Fire Insurance
by filianox noctis
Summary: Ichigo and his brother Hiyoke are twins. They lead a normal life until the death of their mother. That day they are thrown into a world of the supernatural. Ichigo is slowly losing his mind and Hiyoke must find a way to help him by finding his mate.
1. Prologue

Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki were returning from their nightly walk in the park when it hit. It was July 15th and up until five minutes ago, the sky was clear, stars twinkling softly through the city's light pollution. The freak storm rolled in violently. There was a flash of lightning followed by a sharp crack of thunder and the skies opened up releasing torrents of cold water. Isshin and his wife glanced at each other for a second then Isshin took Masaki's hand and began running for cover. The couple was laughing by the time they made it back to their home/family clinic. Masaki, however, planted her feet in the ground when she noticed something lay on the ground outside the clinic's entrance.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Isshin asked his wife. She didn't reply, only stood there staring at the mysterious object. Isshin opened his mouth to ask his question again when a sharp cry rang out. Masaki immediately ran to the object and gasped.

"Isshin! Help me get them inside!" she yelled back at her husband, desperation tainting her usually melodic voice.

"Holy…." Isshin whispered when he saw what his wife was talking about. He hurriedly unlocked the clinic entrance with his key and bent over to pick up the large basket, ushering Masaki inside. Once the door was shut again, the young couple all but ran with the bundle to the closest room in the clinic. Masaki grabbed a handful of towels from a drawer and got to work. The two small babies in the basket were soaked from the rain and shivering. Masaki picked up the smaller of the two, who once separated from the other, began screaming its poor little head off. She quickly took off its soaked clothing and diaper and wrapped it up in one of the warm towels. Once she was finished, she set the now covered baby on the hospital bed and moved to do the same with the other child. The first was still wailing loudly so she hurried to get the second out of its wet clothing and wrapped in a towel as well. Once she placed the second baby next to the first on the bed, the crying ceased.

"Looks like he missed his brother," Isshin commented from the other side of the room. He had been taking down notes on the children while Masaki took care of getting them dry and warm.

"He? I was so busy worrying I didn't notice…well what do we do now Isshin? We have to get them warm at least," Masaki replied.

"Well, we can try rigging something up with that old incubator we have in the supply room. We should set it up in our room though, at least for a while until we know they're healthy. If they make it through the night it will be a miracle. Let's get that set up and then we can search through that basket, see if there are any clues as to where they came from," Isshin said. He then walked out of the room and down the hall to a room full of supplies. He found the incubator in a corner. The plexi-glass box sat on top of its rolling cart. He walked up to retrieve the device and his heart sank. The glass was cracked and missing a good-sized chunk from the top. '_I guess we'll just have to do without_,' Isshin thought to himself as he walked back to his wife and the two babies.

"Well honey, the incubator's busted. Maybe we should take them to a hospital," Isshin told his wife as he walked back into the room. Masaki had one boy in each arm and was smiling down at them.

"Isshin, I don't think we need to worry. They have no sign of a fever and they look healthy. We can just set them up in one of the cribs in our room. We'll turn up the heater a bit, but I think they'll be fine," Masaki replied quietly.

"Ok, sweetheart," was all Isshin could say to his wife. He was mesmerized by how his wife looked holding the two small boys.

After hauling a crib and a case of diapers out of the supply room and into the main house, the young couple set the boys up with fresh clothing. The babies seemed even more content now that they had clean diapers and bottles of formula in their mouths. They soon fell asleep and Isshin and Masaki put them down in their new crib on their backs. Now that they had been cared for and were sleeping soundly, the couple made their way back into the room of the clinic where the mystery basket still sat.

"Alright, let's see what we can find," Isshin said purposefully.

It didn't take long to find the envelope in the basket. It was simply laid underneath the blanket that the babies had been wrapped in. The note inside didn't say much. It was cryptic at best.

"_They are twins._

_Ichigo, the guardian. _

_He will be full of life and color. _

_Hiyoke will be the protector of the guardian. _

_He will keep his brother_

_From being burned by the fire._

_Raise them well and good luck._

_You will need it."_

After reading the poem-like note Isshin and Masaki looked at each other, faces blank and confused. Then suddenly Isshin burst out laughing.

"Well there's nothing for it then. What do you say Masaki, ready to be a mom?" he asked his wife.

"Absolutely," she responded with a grin.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Ok so I kinda just threw the prologue out there. So I'd like to take the time to explain some things. **

**This is AU. Obviously. **

**There will be NO twincest. This is a GrimmIchi fic however; I am still stumped on whom I want to pair up with Ichi's twin…which reminds me. His name is Hiyoke which literally translated means "protection from fire"…so I didn't just pull that out of my ass. He'll get a nickname in this chapter so you'll know who he is. I have this story rated T for now because I have no idea whether or not I'm gonna get into the Nicey-Nice with the boys. I blush when I read it so I will prolly die of blood loss if I have to think of it and write it. But I'll prolly change it to M anyway cause I'll prolly drop an ass ton of F-bombs. **

**The characters will be a little OOC….but I don't really give a damn about that so yay! Also, this chapter may seem choppy and jump around a bit, but I wanted to get the story set up before I dove into the current timeline that way I don't have to do flash backs later. I suck with flashbacks. So bear with me pwease. So here we go.**

**XXXXX**

Sunlight peeked in through the window and illuminated the bedroom with a soft glow. Masaki's eyes fluttered open when small noises sounded throughout the room. She was confused at first, not knowing what that weird yet soothing sound was, but then the events of the previous night were brought to the forefront of her mind. She smacked her sleeping husband on the back of his head.

"Get up you lazy bum! I think the boy's are awake," she told him. He groaned and then sat up with his legs hanging off the edge of their bed. Masaki walked over to the crib that held the two small babies and smiled. They were awake and their eyes were wide open. The smaller one had his little foot in his mouth and the other was giving him a look that was much too intelligent for his age. It was a look that said, '_stop goofin' off, they're watchin' us.' _

"Isshin, we should take them for a check up. They can't be more than a couple days old," Masaki told her husband after picking the boy who still had his foot in his mouth up out of the crib. He opened his mouth, the foot came out, and then the screaming began. Masaki was about to set him back down when the baby still in the crib made a soft gurgling noise. It seemed to flick a switch in the screaming baby because as soon as his brother made that small sound the screaming ceased.

"Whoa…that was cool!" Isshin said excitedly.

After changing the boy's diapers and getting them fed, the new parents came up with a game plan. They knew that just because someone dropped their kids off on your doorstep with a note saying, '_raise them well,' _that didn't mean the kids were legally theirs. They knew no one would be looking for the children so they decided not to involve the police and that they would take the twins to a hospital a couple towns over. That way, they could say it was a home birth and they'd be able to get the proper paperwork filled out, just as if they really were the twins' parents.

"So which one's which do you think?" Isshin asked his wife. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Well, they are identical; same skin, same eyes. The note said, '_Ichigo. The guardian,_' right?" his wife replied.

"Yeah, and '_Hiyoke will be the protector of the guardian._'"

"Well, then the screamer is Ichigo. His silencer is Hiyoke. Yeah, that feels right."

With the names of the twins decided, the couple set out on their mission. They borrowed some car seats from the clinic (that supply room had everything in it) and after a few hours, they returned with a pair of healthy twins and two birth certificates claiming the boys as Kurosaki's.

**XXXXX**

The twins grew as babies generally do, and the looked exactly alike: orange hair, chocolate eyes, and peachy soft skin. They hated being separated. Ichigo would scream and then instantly quiet down as soon as Hiyoke reprimanded him in whatever way he could. It started off as just a gurgle. Then when they could talk it was by saying, "Ichigo." Hiyoke only ever called his brother by his full name when he was trying to calm the other down. Ichigo never called his brother by his name. On their third birthday, that would change.

On that day, the two boys had giant grins on their faces as they played with the new stuffed lion their parents had gotten them. They loved that thing instantly, and their parents simply watched them play together with small smiles on their faces enjoying the moment. Isshin noticed a change happening with one of the boys.

"Masaki, look at Hiyoke. Is it just me or is something off?" he whispered to his wife. She looked at the boys and saw what he was talking about. Hiyoke's hair was looking rather dull, like a colored shirt that had been worn and washed too many times. His skin was lighter than usual too. That wasn't anything compared to what was happening to his eyes. Hiyoke and Ichigo had abandoned the stuffed toy and were staring into each other's eyes. Hiyoke's expression went from loving to determined and all his parents could do was watch as the chocolate brown of his irises lightened into a molten gold color. Then the whites of his eyes began to swirl and warp with inky black. The black color moved throughout those intelligent eyes until every last bit of white was gone. Hiyoke's grin was back and Ichigo let out a giggle. They continued to stare at each other, oblivious to their parent's open-mouthed stares. A minute slowly passed before the changes to Hiyoke's hair and skin began again. The color simply drained away, leaving him white as bone. The boys laughed again, bringing the confused parents out of their shocked states.

"Where's the note?" Masaki asked Isshin. He didn't respond. Instead he bolted out of the living room, up the stairs, into their bedroom, grabbed the note out of its hiding place and returned to where his wife was waiting. She took the note and reread its contents.

"'_He will be full of life and…color_,' that's what it says about Ichigo," Masaki whispered after rereading the note one more time.

"Things are just going to get weirder aren't they?" Isshin asked out loud, not expecting an answer. That was the day that Ichigo began calling his twin brother Shiro.

**XXXXX**

On the twin's fifth birthday, there was a plain white envelope in the Kurosaki mailbox. It had no mailing or return address on it, it was simply blank. Isshin took it inside the house and opened it. To say he was surprised at its contents would be an understatement.

"Masaki! Come here!" Isshin yelled to his wife who was in the kitchen frosting a cake.

"What is it dear?" she replied, a slightly concerned look adorned her face.

"We need to talk upstairs for a minute." With that said, he grabbed her hand and began walking up the steps.

"Kaa-chan? Where are you going?" Ichigo asked in a small voice from the bottom of the staircase.

"Daddy and I will be right back honey, go play with your brother," she told her son. She watched as Ichigo moved back to where Shiro sat in the living room. Once they reached their bedroom Isshin closed and locked the door and showed Masaki the note.

'_Prepare them._

_Hand to hand._

_Heart to heart._

_The time will come_

_When they need to know_

_Who they are._

_The fire will burn in sorrow_

_But will be smothered by the bond_

_When the twelfth year ends.'_

"Well that's helpful. What does it mean? '_Hand to hand, heart to heart,_'" Masaki asked.

"I think it means we have to enroll them in martial arts classes…we'll start them off with karate. The rest of this makes no sense to me though. I guess we'll figure it out later like we did with the other note," Isshin said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "I guess we should ask them if they want to, but I doubt they'll say no."

"You're probably right. Besides, they need an outlet for all that pent up energy they have."

_Meanwhile, downstairs…_

"Humph! I wonder what they're talking about," Ichigo said as he sat down next to his brother in the living room.

"They are talking about us. We probably did something weird again, Ichi," Shiro replied to his twin.

"What did we do? I never know what we do that makes them do that."

"Oh well, let's just play some more. Kaa-chan is making us cake remember?" Shiro grinned at the thought.

"Oh yeah!" was Ichigo's reply. They then got back to work on the puzzle they had been given as a present.

A few minutes later their parents came back downstairs and sat in the living room watching the two boys work together for a couple minutes before Masaki spoke up.

"Ichigo, Shiro, we have a question to ask you," she said.

"What is it Kaa-chan?" they responded at the same time. Isshin chuckled a bit. The twins did things like that a lot.

"How would you two like to learn karate?" Isshin asked the boys once he stopped giggling. Ichigo and Shiro looked at each other and grinned. They then turned to face their parents and said, "OK!" in unison.

**XXXXX**

There were two things that the twins enjoyed doing most. They were karate, then school. They absolutely loved training and had made friends fast at the dojo. When school started, they had their friends from karate in their class so the initial nervousness of a new adventure dwindled and the simply made it into fun. They had met Renji, Shinji, and Tatsuki at the dojo. Renji was a redheaded menace with burgundy eyes and was known as the clown of the group. He was also extremely hotheaded and that's where Shinji came in. Shinji was a skinny blond haired honey eyed boy who could pack a punch and loved to pull Renji's strings. Those two fought a lot, but they were best friends. Tatsuki was the enforcer. She was not a girly girl in anyway and kept the boys in line should the need arise. They knew not to piss her off because she'd let them have it. They knew the only reason they could beat her in a match was because they were bigger than her.

Through Tatsuki, they met Orihime. She had gray eyes and hair a few shades darker than Ichigo's. She was sort of clueless and was always eating odd combinations of food, but she was a fierce friend. She fussed over everyone and made sure they smiled all the time. Orihime was friends with Uryuu. He was quiet and hid behind his glasses a lot. He always made sarcastic comments to the other boys, but everyone who knew him knew that he had a strange sense of humor so they never took offense to the things he said.

They had a pretty tight knit group and when they were in the fourth grade it only got bigger. There were a few transfer students that year. The first being a tall, tan skinned boy who everyone called Chad. He never said much, but he was a good buddy to have around in a pinch. The other two were stepsiblings. Their cold demeanor earned them the titles of Ice Prince and Ice Princess. Toushiro was frigid all the time and his spiky white hair made him look as if he was literally frozen. Rukia however thawed out from time to time. Her dark hair and violet eyes gave her a mysterious look, but she had a strong need to joke around so she was always playing pranks on the boys and picking fights with them.

Ichigo and Shiro had everything they could ever want as eight-year-olds. They had amazing parents who cared for them and loved them completely. They had a group of friends that were always there and made being a kid fun. Most of all, they had each other. They were just happy, normal children.

**XXXXX**

_June 17__th__, less than a month away from the twins' twelfth birthday_

Ichigo and Shiro were sparring together in their karate class. None of their friends would spar with them anymore because they were too good. The two boys were so evenly matched that they never really had a winner to their matches. They simply stopped when they were too tired to continue. This was a match like any other time. Suddenly though, a wave of nausea hit Ichigo. Shiro noticed it and stopped mid kick to ask his brother if he was ok, but never got a chance to. Ichigo had already run to the nearest trashcan and was throwing up. Shiro went up to the instructor and asked to use the phone to call their mom.

"Kaa-chan? Ichi's sick, can you come pick us up?" he asked his mom once she picked up.

"Sure honey, I'll be right there. Take care of Ichigo until I get there, ok?" she replied.

"I will, I promise," Shiro said and then ended the call. He went back over to his still heaving twin and rubbed his back. "Don't worry Ichigo, mom will be here soon," he whispered soothingly to his brother. Once Ichigo stopped being sick, they sat down on a bench and waited.

She never came. Instead, their father showed up a couple hours later with a solemn look on his face. That's when the twins knew. Their mom was dead.

Isshin slowly approached his sons and squatted down so he was at their eye level. "Ichigo, Hiyoke…" he started, "I'm sorry…Masaki…mom, she's…well she's gone," he finished, his voice shaking. Ichigo stood up and walked to the opposite side of the now empty dojo. He simply stood there and stared at the wall, his back to his twin and his father. Shiro's eyes followed him but he felt compelled to ask his father a questions.

"Dad, what happened to her?" he inquired softly.

"The police said someone found her in an alley not too far from here. They said it looked like she'd been mauled by a wild animal," Isshin told his pale son after a moments hesitation. Shiro was about to say something when he felt a horrible ripping in his chest.

"It's my fault. I was weak. I was weak and she's dead," Ichigo said quietly from across the room.

"No, son, it's no one's fault," Isshin replied trying to console Ichigo, but he was cut off.

"IT IS MY FAULT!" Ichigo cried. The pain in Shiro's chest worsened at the sight of his now shaking brother. He couldn't move. Ichigo still had his back to his family when he snapped. He ran to the wall and unleashed his anger on it. He delivered punch after punch to the brick and all Isshin and Shiro could do was watch.

Ichigo felt like he was burning as he released his fury onto the wall. His chest and throat were on fire. No matter how many times he let a fist fly, it never got better. He only stopped because he was worn out from being sick. He slumped against the wall and slid to the floor in a heap. He reached his hands up to his hair and fisted the orange locks as tight as he could and let out a gut-wrenching scream. Shiro felt the pain in his chest reach excruciating levels and ran over to his stricken brother. He didn't know what else to do so he simply sat down behind Ichigo, wrapped his arms around him, and began rocking him slowly back and forth. He kept saying his brother's name over and over again in his mind.

'_Ichigo, oh Ichigo, cry all you want, I'm right here,'_ Shiro thought to himself.

"I know, Shiro," Ichigo replied. Once he felt his brother's arms around him, the burning began to cool. It was not as intense and hearing his brother's voice soothed him further.

'_I didn't think I said that out loud…_' Shiro thought to himself again.

"You didn't Shiro. I heard it though," was Ichigo's response. '_I heard it in my head,'_ Ichigo thought looking directly into his brother's eyes. Shiro stared back at his brother, his mouth hanging open.

'_Well this is interesting,_' Shiro thought. Ichigo simply nodded in agreement.

Isshin watched the scene play out, only hearing snippets of the conversation, but his first priority was to get the boys home. Ichigo's hands needed to be taken care of, and they needed sleep. So with that in mind, he loaded the boys into their mini-van and drove back to the house.

Ichigo was still sick, so as soon as they arrived home, he ran into the bathroom. Shiro just sighed and thought, '_You ok, Ichi?_' '_Yeah, I'll be out in a minute_' was the response he heard in his head from his brother. With that, Shiro decided to help his father make some tea. They had a cup set out for Ichigo when he joined them in the dining room a couple minutes later. The grief-stricken family drank in silence; both boys' minds were blank, so that line of communication was silent as well. After finishing his tea, Isshin took to wrapping up Ichigo's hands. Once that was finished, he sat back down at the table. Silence still unbroken.

"Alright boys, go up to bed and get some sleep," Isshin said to them a little while later.

"Ok Dad," the two replied.

Isshin watched his sons head in the direction of the stairs and then pulled out his wallet. Inside was a much-abused piece of paper. It was the second note pertaining to the boy's. He reread it, for what seemed like the millionth time.

'_Prepare them._

_Hand to hand._

_Heart to heart._

_The time will come_

_When they need to know_

_Who they are._

_The fire will burn in sorrow_

_But will be smothered by the bond_

_When the twelfth year ends.'_

Isshin now knew what it meant. Ichigo was most definitely burning today. Shiro put out the fire by taking Ichigo into his arms. Isshin placed his head in his hands on the kitchen table thinking to himself how much he wished that the person who left the second note, would soon leave another. He didn't understand. He didn't understand at all.

**XXXXX**

**ENDING A/N: if you have questions about ANYTHING regarding this chapter, don't hesitate to ask, I know it's a bit confusing. But, in the next chapter, the mystery person will make an appearance, and the boys will learn the truth about their past. **


	3. Chapter 2

As he climbed the stairs, Ichigo felt it again. It started out as a tickle in his throat. He moved up one more step. It intensified ever so slowly making him pause on the next rise and cough. It just simmered steadily so he ignored it and continued on the path upward. When he reached the landing at the top, it was a fiery ache and with each breath, it moved causing his arms and chest to tingle. He continued to ignore it and walked to his shared bedroom and once Shiro entered the room behind him, he softly closed the door, leaning against it so the wood cooled his forehead. Shiro had been quiet this whole time, but he felt the ache in his chest.

"Ichigo?" he asked in a whisper. "Ichigo, say something…please?" Shiro was scared and wanted to hear his brother speak, not in his head, but out loud. He could feel Ichigo burning, and yet, he seemed calm. That, to Shiro, was terrifying.

More silence.

Shiro was about to move back towards his brother when Ichigo finally spoke.

"Don't. I killed her Shiro, I don't deserve it," Ichigo said in a surprisingly steady tone. He was on fire. His throat seemed to have been reduced to ash and invisible flames licked angrily at his skin, but he refused to cry. _I was weak before and I got mom killed. This is my punishment. I have to take it like a man. _He thought to himself. He barely noticed the metallic taste in his mouth or the fact that it kept increasing as his brother moved quickly closer. However, he did jump a little when he heard Shiro's angry voice in his head.

'_ICHIGO!' _Shiro yelled mentally. He saw his brother twitch and spoke again softly, still in his mind. '_You didn't kill Kaa-chan. It was an accident.'_ His voice was gentle, but it was different than before. It was distorted, almost as if there were three of him speaking at the same time. Ichigo noticed that when his brother spoke, the flames on his skin paused ever so slightly. Shiro also felt the slight change and was becoming aware that the pain in his chest was simply an echo of what must be happening to his twin. He knew he needed his brother as much as Ichigo needed him.

"Get your pajamas on. You can sleep in my bed tonight," Shiro said out loud this time. Ichigo woodenly made his way to the closet followed by a cautious Shiro and they both changed into t-shirts and plaid flannel sleep pants. Shiro took Ichigo's hand and led him to his bed and they both crawled under the covers. They lay there on their sides, face to face just staring at each other when Shiro felt it coming. The burning within Ichigo increased tenfold in an instant turning his entire body into a raging inferno. Shiro felt the echo in his chest and watched as Ichigo's watery eyes glowed with a silver glint, tears slowly and silently making their way down his face. Shiro's attention was then brought to his brother's open panting mouth when a small whine was torn out of his throat. Ichigo's canines were growing, extending, and sharpening to points. As he watched, Shiro felt a small amount of pressure in his own mouth and judging by the widening of Ichigo's eyes, his canines had probably grown too. The fire increased again and Shiro acted on an instinct, buried deep within him. He reached out with his left hand and pulled his brother's mouth to his own neck with such force that he was instantly impaled with Ichigo's small fangs. Ichigo gasped and tried desperately to pull away but was held in place by Shiro's vice like grip.

'_Shhh...Ichi. It's ok, I promise,'_ Shiro purred over their mind connection and Ichigo relaxed somewhat. He then noticed that the blood in his mouth tasted amazing, like dark chocolate and black cherries. When he swallowed it he felt relief from the scorching pain in his throat and, like Shiro, his instincts took over. Shiro then let Ichigo move back enough to remove his fangs, but still be able to gently suck at the two small puncture wounds. After just a few seconds, the fire cooled and the pain in Shiro's chest died down significantly.

'_Shiro, you next,'_ Ichigo thought as he pulled completely away from his brother's neck and offered his own by tilting his head to the side. Shiro let out a grown and immediately latched on earning a hiss from Ichigo. It was a few seconds longer than when Ichigo had done it, but he felt sated and pulled back, lapping at the small droplets that escaped his mouth before. He backed away and looked his twin in the eyes once more. They were no longer shining and were back to being a soft walnut color, but they were brimming with new tears. Shiro felt a pang in his chest as Ichigo began to cry out of fear. It wasn't an echo this time. He truly felt his brother's fear in addition to his own.

"What are we Shiro?" Ichigo asked out loud with an unsteady voice.

"I don't know Ichi, I don't know," was Shiro's reply. His eyes soon filled as well and they both began crying together. Shiro simply turned Ichigo over so his back was to him and held him close. They both lay there in Shiro's bed, sobbing, in fear and confusion until finally, sleep overtook them.

* * *

When Isshin peeked in on the boys they were sound asleep. He expected them to be in Shiro's bed together so he made no move to separate them. Even if he had, Ichigo would just kick and scream until he got his way. So instead he decided to go outside for a much needed cigarette. He gently closed the door to his sons' bedroom and made his way back down the stairs. He passed up putting on his coat and slipped into his shoes before heading out the front door. It was a warm night with very little cloud cover so the bright moon cast enough light for him to see enough that he wouldn't trip on something. He grabbed a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and was about to light it up when a sweet smelling breeze came through. It smelled clean and fresh with hints of salt and seaweed. Isshin thought this a bit odd since they were nowhere near saltwater, but ignored it nonetheless. After lighting his cigarette he lifted his head up and gasped when he saw the silhouette of a person standing at the end of the driveway.

"Who's there?" He asked the figure. It didn't move or respond. Isshin took a step back and flicked the switch for the porch light. It only light up part of the yard but when he looked back at the figure his heart sped up. The figure hadn't moved and was still out of range of the porch light, but now its eyes were reflecting the light, shining animal-like. Isshin was frozen as he watched the figure blink making the glowing orbs appear as if they were flickering. Isshin regained some of his composure and took a hesitant step towards the figure.

"You sure you wanna do that?" the figure asked tilting his head to the side. Well that answered one question. The stranger was obviously male given his voice was deep and smooth.

"Who are you?" Isshin asked.

"You should be asking me what I am, not who," the man stated before taking a step into the light. Isshin's eyes grew wide as he took in what he was seeing. The man had black, spiky hair and since he was closer to the light, his eyes were less reflective and Isshin could make out the color. They were a stormy grey-green, like tossing waves. The man was giving Isshin what could only be called a toothy grin. That all was fine and dandy, but what really threw Isshin off was his face. It was a matured carbon copy of the face that belonged to his sons.

"Oh…ok…umm…then I'll add that to my question. Who and what are you?" Isshin asked in a firm voice, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, I think you can guess the who part. I have a familiar face don't I?" the stranger replied. Isshin simply gave him a stunned look that made him let out a bark of laughter. "You have done as I instructed, they have grown well, but it is time for them to know what they are. If you ignore it, they won't survive."

"What do you mean? Ignore what?" Isshin spit out completely passing over the issue that this man in front of him was obviously the one who left Ichigo and Hiyoke in his care along with the cryptic notes. Isshin was way more concerned with the "they won't survive" bit.

"They are the same as me, but before I explain, perhaps you'd be so kind as to invite me inside? We have a lot to discuss and you should probably be sitting down for it." With that statement Isshin just sighed and turned to the front door to open it.

"Alright, come on in," He said holding the door for his visitor.

"Alright, let me get this straight. You're a vampire," Isshin stated rather than asked the man in the chair across from him after the visitor's lengthy explanation. Isshin hadn't said a word throughout the entire story, but was now ready to explode.

"Yes," was the stranger's simple answer.

"And you're Ichigo and Hiyoke's biological father."

"Yes."

"And their biological mother is dead. She died when they were born."

"Yes. As I said before, vampires aren't supposed to be able to have children. It's extremely rare and once a vampire is pregnant, it cannot be terminated. The mother will die. There are no exceptions. She simply turned to ash and the twins were left behind."

"And twins are even more rare than single children."

"Yes. Ichigo and Hiyoke are the first ever set of vampire twins born rather than made. Usually when vampire offspring are born they present two personalities. In their case however it was determined that they would be completely separate entities sharing one mind, meaning that rather than communicating with each other in the inner world, they can communicate telepathically."

"I don't understand."

"The inner world is inside the mind. It's a place where the two personalities can communicate face to face. They each have a physical form in this state. They can talk, they can touch, and they can fight. At least that's what I'm told."

"But how are they twins then?"

"Oh for god's sake, you're a doctor damn it! Surely you understand how identical twins come about. The fertilized egg simply splits into two identical fetuses correct?" Isshin nodded. "Well that's how it happened with them."

"But Hiyoke is albino. If they were identical, they would both be albino."

"He's not an albino. You don't just turn albino, Isshin. Where is your head? Hiyoke was meant to be a sacrifice. It's how it is with vampiric children. The passive personality is what grounds the dominant. He has his own body, but because of the love he has for his brother, he willingly gave all his spirit to Ichigo. That is why he is void of color. That is why he alone can truly calm the turmoil building up Ichigo's mind. He will always react to Ichigo's thoughts and feelings. More than likely, they will be intensified. Of course this is all speculation. It could be different for all I know."

"Why did you bring them here?" Isshin asked changing the subject to something less weird.

"My wife turned to ash in front of my very eyes. I was grief stricken as I imagine you are now. I know your wife is dead. She died this very night. I knew they needed the care of a mother and a father, but I alone could not provide that."

"What do you know about Masaki's death?" Isshin asked, almost whispering.

"I know that it was not an accident."

"What the hell do you mean it wasn't an accident?" Isshin yelled back.

"She was killed by a creature of the night. Not a vampire but one who turns into a beast. The police said it was an animal attack right? More than likely it was one of the duals."

"What's a dual?"

"They are creatures who have two forms: one that is almost human, and one that is animal. And no. They aren't werewolves, although there are those that can turn into wolves."

"This is ridiculous. You expect me to believe that you and my sons are vampires and that there are were-animals running around the city? What am I supposed to do with this?" Isshin scoffed.

"I expect you to understand that should you ignore it, those two boys won't understand and they will wind up killing themselves or each other accidentally." At that Isshin paled. "You don't have to say anything to them yet, I understand that you're family is grieving, but I will have to come back on their twelfth birthday. They will give into their instincts and it could be disastrous if we don't deal with it. I must leave now. In the mean time, watch them. They will have silent conversations. You will see it. Also, they have a friend. He is a vampire child as well. I believe he is named Shinji. Watch how he behaves as well. You will see it. I'll explain more about it when I visit again." The stranger stood up and made his way to the front door to leave when Isshin caught up with him.

"At least tell me your name," Isshin said, his voice tired. He hoped he'd wake up in the morning and this would all be a dream.

"Kaien. Kaien Shiba. I'll be back," the vampire stated just before walking out the front door. Isshin stood there for a minute looking down at the floor and then he found himself walking out the door as well.

"Wait!" Isshin yelled to the night, but Kaien was already gone. All that was left was a soft salty breeze.


	4. Chapter 3

The days leading up to the funeral were a blur for Ichigo. They were a red haze of anger for Shiro. They were just plain confusing to Isshin. Ichigo never once said anything. He would nod or shake his head to a direct yes or no question, but he would never open his mouth and speak an answer. This confused Isshin because normally Ichigo was the chattier of the two boys. Ichigo used to smile all the time and laugh at life. Now he was silent and expressionless. Shiro on the other hand, who was usually the more stoic of the two and often kept Ichigo from being to over enthusiastic about things, was a raging ball of pissed off. The morning after their mother's death, he practically destroyed the upstairs bathroom in a fit of rage. Broken glass from the mirror spread across the floor and mingled with bits and pieces of what used to be an upright cabinet. The wooden door was broken in half and metal hardware was resting in the sink, on the floor, and in the bath. When Isshin came in to find his son in such a state he asked Shiro why he felt the need to destroy. Shiro simply stated that he didn't know what came over him and that he had just felt so mad he couldn't help it. This happened on several more occasions as the day went on. The reversing of roles with the twins was confusing as hell to Isshin. So he did what the stranger, Kaien, had said to do. He watched. Ichigo and Shiro often exchanged extended glances, but never spoke to each other. Isshin was still so confused.

The funeral was small and only a few people were there, but the Kurosaki's had preferred it that way. Only their closest friends showed up so it was mostly kids from school and the dojo and their parents. The twins noticed a strange face in the back of the small church during the service. He lingered in the shadows until he caught the boys staring at him and then simply bowed and left.

'_Do you know who that was?'_ Ichigo asked his twin.

'_No idea, freaky though, he has our face,'_ Shiro replied.

'_Something's up. I can feel it,' _and with that both boys went back to paying attention to what their father was saying about their mother.

Once the family returned to their home that afternoon they all sat at the kitchen table and sighed at almost the same time. Isshin had a bit of a plan now, and he needed to tell the boys.

"Alright boys, I know you're having a hard time coping, God knows I am, but Masaki wouldn't want us to sit around moping for the rest of our lives. She'd never forgive me if I let you two waste away in misery. So, I've invited a couple friends to stay over for a couple days until you have to go back to school. Renji and Shinji will be here later tonight so make sure you are good hosts," Isshin told the boys. He was originally only going to invite Shinji because of what Kaien had said, but he decided it would be best if they had two friends and since he knew that Renji and Shinji were the top two on the list he'd go ahead and invite both of them. Mission accomplished. Now all he had to do was watch Shinji's behavior as well. The things he noticed were, to him, just plain weird.

To say Renji was annoyed would be an understatement. He got it. Their mom had died. It was sad. It was heartbreaking, but this….this was torture. His three friends were acting like aliens. Ichigo was dead silent and hardly ate anything, Shiro was pissed off all the time and destroyed things on a regular basis without provocation, and Shinji….well, Shinji was just plain crazy. Renji would on occasion catch his friend talking quietly to himself. Nothing he said during those times made any sense because he was only hearing half of the conversation. What he did hear was disturbing enough though. There was lots of mention of being hungry, slowly starving to death, and blood. Shinji would keep saying three words over and over again when he stared at Renji, a hungry glint in his eye. "I need it." That was the last straw for Renji. He decided enough was enough and it was time they talked to him and told him what the hell was going on in their heads. So he dragged Shiro and Shinji by the collars of their shirts into the twins' bedroom while Ichigo simply followed after being barked at by the big redhead. Renji threw the two boys into the room and once Ichigo was inside he shut the door and took a stance in front of it as if to say "you're not getting out until I let you." Shiro and Shinji had taken a spot on Shiro's bed and Ichigo went to sit next to Shiro but not before leaning in and _sniffing Shiro's neck_!

"Alright, that's it you guys. What the hell is wrong with you? Ichigo why aren't you talking?" Renji began. Ichigo and Shiro looked at each other for a long moment and when they looked back at Renji, Ichigo just shrugged. That pissed Renji off more.

"Oh no you don't! You're going to answer the question with words dammit or I will beat them out of you!" With those words, Shiro let out a menacing growl but was stopped when Ichigo grabbed his hand. The twins locked eyes again and after another long moment Shiro settled down.

"I haven't felt like talking," Ichigo finally said. His voice was raw and cracking in places from lack of speaking for a few days. "I'm sorry if that bothers you Renji."

"I get it Ichi, I do, but I'm your friend. I'm here for you. You can tell me how you're feeling you know?" Ichigo nodded at this and then Renji moved on to Shiro. "You! Why the hell are you so spastic all of the sudden? I don't know which is worse! Him being all quiet or you being all violent! What the hell man?" Renji huffed after his little speech feeling exhausted already, but he didn't miss Ichigo giving Shiro another squeeze of the hand before Shiro was able to answer calmly.

"We are angry," he began ignoring the look of confusing on Renji's face when he used the word 'we,' "Sometimes I feel like I'm losing control and I slip. I want to destroy everything. The way she was destroyed." Shiro knew this feeling wasn't coming from him. It was coming from Ichigo and he was simply overpowered by the raw emotion radiating from his twin. He wouldn't tell Renji that. Renji would think he was nuts.

"Ok fine, we're gonna come back to that one in a minute. Shinji, you are talking to yourself dude. We are all sad about Masaki-san but you're acting way weirder than those two idiots. You keep looking at me like you want to eat me," Renji said to Shinij, the last sentence quieter than the rest.

"Maybe I do wanna eat ya," Shinji replied with a face splitting grin. Shiro and Ichigo whipped their heads to the side to stare wide eyed at their friend. "I bet ya taste yummy...mmm," the blonde said as he all but slinked up to the now frozen redhead. He titled his head up and gave Renji's neck a quiet sniff. When his tongue peeked out to lick the skin before him Shiro jumped up and yanked him back by his arm. Shinji put up a fight and Shiro had to pin the smaller boy to the floor in order to restrain him completely. Shinji was out of hit. He kept snapping his jaws in Renji's direction. Ichigo noticed it first. Shinji's eyes were shifting, the honey-colored irises were quickly engulfed by black and then the fangs grew.

'_Shiro, he's the same as us. Look at his eyes!' _Ichigo thought to his brother. Shiro did just that and replied silently to Ichigo.

'_Get dad, we can't handle this on our own anymore. We need help.'_ With that Ichigo darted to the door, flung it open and screamed, "DAD!" down the stairs. Isshin could be heard barreling around the corner and then he ran up the stairs.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he asked his son quickly.

"I don't know. Shinji just freaked out on Renji. There's something wrong with us dad. It's scaring me," Ichigo whispered to his father as they came to the doorway of the bedroom. He saw the eyes. He saw the teeth. He saw it all. A few seconds later, Shiro picked Shinji up off the floor and slapped him across the face. That seemed to do the trick because the fangs withdrew and his eyes returned to normal. That's when the sobbing started.

"What the hell is wrong with me? Why won't it leave me alone?" Shinji sobbed out after falling back to the floor on his hands and knees.

"I think I know," Isshin replied gently, "Let's all go downstairs. This might take a while." Isshin was glad these boys trusted him so much because they were all able to calmly walk down the stairs to take seats on the couches in the living room.

They had only been sitting down for five minutes so far, but it felt like forever. Isshin was gathering his thoughts wanting to make sure he said the right thing and didn't overly scare the three boys. Renji kept stealing wary glances at Shinji. Ichigo and Shiro were having a quiet conversation in their heads, debating on whether or not they should just come out and say what had been going on or if they should just let their father explain what he knew. Shinji was just staring off into la-la land. A few more minutes ticked by and there was a light tapping on the front door. Sighing, Isshin got up to go answer it, almost grateful for the distraction but was surprised by who was at the door. It was Kaien.

"Thought you could use some help. Those three were pumping out a lot of juice and I doubt it will be much longer before one of them snaps," Kaien said quietly.

"Alright come on in. You explain it to them. Everything," was Isshin's response. He led the vampire into the living room where the four boys were waiting silently. The two men stood in the doorway and before Isshin spoke he took a deep breath.

"Alright boys. This is going to be hard, but there are things that need to be brought out into the open. Renji, I'm sorry, but since you're here and obviously saw _something_, it's probably best if you are let in on it too. Shinji, I have no idea how much any of this will apply to you, but I'm sure this man here will be able to answer any questions concerning what's going on with your end of the deal. Right, _Kaien_?"

"Why certainly, Isshin," Kaien responded and waited for Isshin to sit down on the couch next two the twins. "Well should I be blunt or should I skirt around it 'til you go nuts?" Kaien asked his audience. At the grunts of disgust and anger he received he continued.

"Right, well. I'll just get into it the. Ichigo, Hiyoke, that man," he said pointing to Isshin, "isn't your biological father." There were gasps from Shinji and Renji, Isshin just rested his elbows on his knees so he could place his face in his hands, and the twins both dropped their jaws to the floor and looked utterly flabbergasted.

"What the hell do you mean he's not our father?" Shiro burst out once he gained back his composure.

"I mean I am your biological father. My wife, Miyako, became pregnant and you, my dear boys, are the result. She's gone. You will never get to meet your mother. No child of those like us ever does," Kaien replied in an almost dejected tone. It wasn't that he blamed the boys for his wife's death; it was just that he missed her dearly. Shiro, however, was feeding off his twin's distress and could care less about what this man had to say at the moment. His wife died, so what, it had nothing to do with them.

"Dad? What the FUCK is this dude talkin' about?" Shiro growled out looking directly at his "father." He felt the tingling in his throat that signaled to him that Ichigo was having problems dealing with this. '_Ichi, calm down, just wait 'til this is over with, then I'll give ya what ya need,_' Shiro thought to his now simmering brother. Isshin pulled his head out of his hands and looked at both his boys and saw the turmoil in their eyes. He had to tell them the truth. There was no way around it.

"He's telling the truth. Masaki and I aren't your biological parents," Isshin stated. This revelation caused the burning in Ichigo's throat to slightly increase, but nothing to worry about too much yet.

"Dad…how can you…what do you…our birth certificates! They say Ichigo and Hiyoke Kurosaki! If we were adopted it would say whatever this guy's last name is!" Shiro shot back, his anger building in relation to Ichigo's. Kaien could smell it.

"Isshin, they're gonna lose it…," Kaien said under his breath. Two things happened at once with that statement. Isshin whipped his head back in the direction of Kaien and Ichigo and Shiro both let loose a feral growl. What did this man know about them? How could he tell they were both suffering? Isshin opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water at Kaien before turning back to the boys.

"Ichigo. Hiyoke. The fact of the matter is, we found you. You were left on the drive in front of the clinic in the rain. We took you inside, made sure you were healthy and then found a cryptic note telling us basically that you were left to us. So we took you to a hospital a couple towns over claiming it was a home birth and had your birth certificates drawn up. We never knew what the hell the note meant. It gave your names but since you were identical at the time, we just named you which one we thought was best. Turned out perfect when you practically bleached out right in front of our eyes, Shiro," Isshin explained. Masaki and Isshin had pictures of the twins when they were still identical so the boys knew they used to be that way, but they didn't know why or how Shiro had changed. All through this, Shinji and Renji were just thinking to themselves '_What the FUCK?'_ This was where Kaien stepped in to fill the gaps, and drop the really big bomb. To explain better, he let his fangs drop and manipulated the air around him. This got everyone's attention.

"Boys, before I explain anything else, you need to know what you are so you can learn to control it. I am a vampire. Miyako, you're biological mother," he kept saying "biological" because he knew that if he didn't they'd argue that Masaki was their mother, "was a vampire as well. Like I said before, she became pregnant. It's extremely rare, but not unheard of. The only problem is the carrier of vampiric children always dies. There is no way for a natural birth to happen so the host body must be destroyed in order for the child to be born. She knew it, I knew it. So when the time came for her to die, she simply turned to ash and you two were left behind. We didn't know there were two of you. Twins never happen. Usually the child simply has a second personality that can only be seen through deep meditation. This being looks exactly like the dominant, but, in coloring, looks the way you do, Hiyoke. It was just a guess that you would eventually look the way you do now, so I made sure to leave a very subtle hint about it in the note I left with the two of you. Isshin, you should probably show them, I know you've kept it all these years." With that Isshin reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then extracted the very well worn piece of paper, unfolded it, and handed it to Shiro. Shiro read it silently, but made sure to share the note with his twin through their telepathic connection. Ichigo finally responded. He knew, without a doubt, that this whole thing was the truth. He felt a small amount of relief as well, which Shiro picked up on and was able to calm down some with Ichigo's help. They now knew that they weren't freaks, well sort of at least. They knew there was an explanation for the strange things that had been happening between them. Shinji, on the other hand was having trouble. His so-called second personality was rearing its ugly head and demanding that he get blood and that he get it now. Shinji's eyes began to shift color and his fangs grew as he concentrated on Renji who was just sitting there in a sort of trance. Kaien decided that now was the time for a small demonstration. He focused on the now growling blonde and spoke his name, his voice taking on a watery tone.

"**Shinji**," he spoke. Shinji had no choice but to look at Kaien. That voice was controlling him. "**Come here child**." Shinji stood up immediately and walked over to Kaien and stopped right in front of him. The other witnesses in the room were watching carefully, waiting to see what was going on, and what was going to happen.

Kaien took his right thumb to his left wrist and used the nail to cut open a shallow line. It was only deep enough for a few drops of blood to pool out, but that was enough to set Shinji off. "**Follow your instincts Shinji**," Kaien whispered to the blonde but made sure he said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Shinji did exactly what Kaien commanded him to do. He grabbed Kaien's offered wrist, none to gently, brought it to his mouth and clamped down, hard. Kaien gave a slight hiss at the bite, but allowed Shinji to continue to drink until he could no longer smell the blood lust dripping off of the blonde. Once Shinji was satisfied, he pulled back licking his stained lips. His eyes shifted back to normal, and now he was freaked out. He dropped Kaien's wrist as if it had burned him and he backed away from the vampire. Kaien decided to explain before Shinji panicked and ran out the door.

"You're adopted, yes Shinji?" he waited for the boy to nod. "You are a vampire child as well. I've been watching my offspring as they've grown and noticed you. Your future will be easier to predict since you're not the first of your kind. You'll need blood. As long as you're fed, your mind pal will be content and will only help you. Until you are a full vampire though, like me, it will need to be vampire blood. That being said, either I or another will need to feed you so you don't eat your red-headed friend over there." At this Renji's head snapped to attention. He realized he didn't care what the fuck was going on because obviously this was some deep shit, but they were still his friends and he wasn't going to let this bother him. However, he was not willing to let Shinji take a bite out of him just because he was hungry.

"Shinji, you bite me, I kick you in the balls. Fair and square. Same goes for you two idiots, you got me?" Renji said. His eyes flicked from one friend to the other as he made sure his words sunk in. Everyone had thought Renji had spaced out, but this little speech had everyone relaxing, especially the three boys in question. They were worried Renji would bail, but Renji proved to be as loyal as ever. This earned him a giant hug from Ichigo, Shiro and Shinji. "Alright alright! Get off me already!" Renji said as he tried to shove his friends away. He was loyal but that didn't mean he wanted to get all mushy. Shiro thought of something.

"Ok, so we get what's up with Shinji and why he went all weird, but if we're so different, what the hell are we supposed to do?" Shiro asked as he and Ichigo sat back down on the couch next to Isshin. Isshin was very interested in this too since it was never explained before on Kaien's last visit.

"Well, you've already fed from each other I presume?" Kaien asked them back. When they nodded hesitantly Kaien laughed. "It's ok, it's to be expected. You may share a mind, but you're still two different people. Whenever you're feeling particularly upset about something, Ichigo, you'll feel like you need it. It will start as a tickle then it will escalate to something like a burn. Shiro will have to feed you."

"Is that why I felt like my body was on fire?" Ichigo asked. Kaien nodded.

"Why do I feel it too? I mean I know it's not coming from me. I can tell when it's mine and when it's Ichi's," Shiro asked the vampire.

"You have a connection do you not? You can feel what he's feeling. Everything now that you've fed from him. When Ichigo is in that sort of state, you have to feed him. If you aren't there, I can only guess what will happen, but it's likely that the fire will burn him from the inside out and he'll die. When you're full vampires like me, it will be different. You'll have to find mates to feed from. However, I'd advise that no matter what, you stick together. Your guess is as good as mine in this situation, but should Ichigo get into that sort of state, you'll need to be close. Feeding from his mate will do nothing for him in that situation," Kaien responded, "Also, if you, Hiyoke, aren't there and he dies, you'll more than likely die too."

"Holy hell….," both twins said at once. All those in the room chuckled nervously at that, but now that most things were explained, they knew what they had to do. It was a bit much for a bunch of kids and a grieving father to handle, but they'd get through it.

"Now, I have no intention of taking you away from your father," Kaien said to the twins. "He loves you more than I could ever have. You should continue on like you've been doing as a family. I will have to visit to check up on you from time to time, but when I do, just call me Kaien. Now that we've gotten all the important stuff out of the way, you boys have to be dying to ask some questions about being a vampire right?" Kaien stated with a waggle of his dark eyebrows.

"Do we ever!" the boys and Isshin all said at once. Kaien laughed at that and the questioning began.

"Alright who wants to start?" Kaien asked his awaiting audience. The young boys had plenty of questions they wanted to ask, but none of them knew where to begin. Isshin also had questions, but he figured he'd let the boys do the actual questioning and just watch how they interacted with the vampire. After a lot of umm's and hmmm's Renji finally spoke up.

"How do you kill a vampire? Is that whole stake to the heart bit for real or is that complete bull?" he asked. This question, although expected, made Kaien flinch a small amount. He hadn't expected it to be the first thing out of the small human's mouth, but well, there it was.

"Ok, umm, well you see the thing is, there are actually lots of ways to kill a vampire. Obviously, one is to get them pregnant, but that's extremely hard to do….ummm...," Kaien paused, chuckling awkwardly at having to talk about that sort of thing with a few eleven year old boys. He turned to Isshin and put a hand up to his mouth so as to block the boys from seeing what he was saying and whispered, "Hey, have you had….you know…._the talk_….with the twins yet?" Isshin's face brightened a fraction. He loved to embarrass his boys and Kaien brought out a wonderful opportunity to do so as well as lighten the tense mood.

"As a matter of fact, I haven't! Should I tell my darling boys about the ins and outs of sex now? They are growing up so fast!" Isshin cried crocodile tears at the last thing he said.

"What the hell dad!" the twins shouted out together and tackled the crying man at the mention of s-e-x. They already knew some things, but not a whole lot. They had yet to experience the things they learned about in school.

"I kinda wanna hear about the ins and outs of sex…." Shinji piped up raising his hand in an eager fashion.

"Of course you would you pervert!" the twins shouted once again at the same time backing off their father and pointing fingers at the blonde.

"Can we get back to my question please? You can talk about sex later, I wanna know how to kill a vampire," Renji stated very firmly. This killed the light mood that had taken over the room. Everyone looked at him like he had grown another head. "What? It's a perfectly valid question! I just wanna know if the stories are true or not, I'm not gonna try and sprinkle garlic on you guys in your sleep or anything…sheesh…"

"Renji was it?" Kaien asked and then continued after receiving a curt nod from the redhead. "To answer your question, yes a stake to the heart will kill a vampire. It has to be pure silver and can't be contaminated with oils from human skin, but it can be done. You're probably all wondering about sunlight too eh? Well you've been able to be out in the sun without any problems so far right?" Ichigo, Shiro and Shinji all nodded. "Well, when you've matured into an adult vampire that won't be the case. It won't kill you by itself, but if you stay out in direct sunlight for too long you can expect severe third degree burns. You'll need blood immediately because your body will use any you have stored up to heal itself. Vampires have starved to death after being burned by the sun. When you're an adult, you'll need blood a lot. The time intervals are different for each vampire, but regardless, you don't eat, you don't live." Kaien gave them all a moment to process this. He felt that since there was a lot to tell them, he should give them a little break in between bits of information. "You want to know a couple more ways or should we move on to a less scary topic?" He asked the group.

"So, silver stakes, lots of sun, and having babies. What else?" Renji asked curiously. Ichigo and Shiro looked at each other.

'_He's freakin' me out Ichi,_' Shiro sent to his brother.

'_Tell me about it Shiro, he's like way too into this killing part. He's our friend though. He won't do anything. I think he's being normal and just lookin' out for us._' Ichigo thought back to Shiro.

Kaien watched them and knew they were "talking" to each other so he waited until it looked like they were finished before he went back to answering Renji's question.

"Well, this one's a little weird. I guess a few people tried it in order to cause less harm to humans, but apparently it didn't work out too well. If you, as a vampire, attempt to ingest animal blood it will poison you. No amount of human or vampire blood at that point can save you. So even if you're starving, never, and I mean _never_, drink from an animal. That excludes the duals, or two-natured. They can change into animals. Feel free to drink from them as much as you like. Unlike humans, they won't die of blood loss. In fact, when it's time to find a mate, they may be a dual instead of a vampire." Kaien paused again and when no one spoke up with any questions about that particular tidbit he continued. "That brings up another way to bring death to a vampire. Kill their mate. The connection between vampire mates is so strong that should one die, the other will die as well, from starvation of course. It's a difficult thing to explain."

"But you said that your wife died. If she was your mate, why didn't you die too?" Isshin added in. He knew the feeling of losing a mate, if in a different way, and was curious to know how Kaien managed to live through it.

Kaien gave a heavy sigh and looked down at the floor. "Miyako would be pissed at me if I let her sons die. I had to be around long enough to make sure they were in good hands. Once I saw the love you so instantly showed them, I had to stick around to watch. So while yes, it was hard and painful, I forced myself to feed."

At that five pairs of eyes focused on the dark haired vampire. Kaien sensed this and used his peculiar power to soften the mood in the room.

"Why does it smell like the beach all of the sudden?" Isshin asked as he gently sniffed the air. Ichigo, Shiro and Shinji smelled it more strongly than the two humans in the room because of their newly heightened senses; they just didn't realize it yet. Renji could smell it too, but he didn't really notice it until Isshin had said something.

Kaien grinned and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and laughed lightly. "Well you see, that is part of my power. I have control over water. I can manipulate it in such lovely ways," Kaien laughed again at the looks of confusion on the faces in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked cocking his blonde head to the side.

"I can cause the water in the air to sort of bunch together. I can make clouds, I can make it rain, make it stop raining. When I'm close enough, I can even mess with ocean currents. I can make waves rise, and I can manipulate the tides," Kaien explained. He tried to lighten the mood again by speaking the last sentence in a hushed eerie voice and then waggled his eyebrows at his audience.

Isshin was taking in all this information like a champ, but that still didn't explain why he smelled the sea in his house when they were nowhere near the coast. He was about to ask about this, but his pale son beat him to it.

"Is that why it smells like salt and seaweed in here?" Shiro asked bluntly. He was not a fan of that smell.

"Not entirely. The smell is actually me," Kaien laughed. "Every vampire has a specific scent. It's completely unique and we generally use it to identify each other. I assume that because I have an affinity with the sea, it had an effect on my scent marker. A vampire's scent can stir emotions in a person. For instance when I extended it out to you just now, I was using it to calm you all down. It isn't perfect, but it works to some extent. Mine works relatively well at inducing calmness because of the nature of the scent. People are usually calmed and soothed by the scent of the ocean, aren't they?"

"What do I smell like?" Shinji asked. He was worried that he'd smell bad being as vain as he was, even at age twelve.

Kaien chuckled a little at the blonde's obvious worry. "You smell like a normal human. Right now at least. You won't develop a scent marker until you come of age. When you do, it will help you attract your mate. It will probably attract many, but only a couple of vampires or duals will be attracted to it enough to pursue mating. Like me though, the scent will most likely relate to the power you develop."

"So when they're old enough they're gonna start smelling good to other vampires? Like chicks with fangs are gonna be all over them?" Renji asked. He was a little jealous at this. He may have been young, but he knew he liked pretty girls.

Kaien took a cautious look at Isshin before he responded to Renji's question. "Actually, it may not be just girls…they might attract boys too…." Kaien waited for the backlash he knew was coming at that statement.

"WHAT?" Ichigo, Shiro and Isshin all yelled at the same time. Shinji didn't seem bothered by this at all.

"It's ok you guys," Kaien said in a soothing voice.

"What do you mean it's ok? You mean some day we may have to fight off guys that want to _mate_ with us?" Shiro growled out.

"I think you're a little young to understand boys," Isshin said quietly surprising everybody. "You don't know what you'll want a few years from now. You're only eleven for god's sake." At this, the twins just stared open mouthed at their dad. Shinji just rolled his eyes at them. He didn't understand what the big deal was.

"Your father is right, boys. I'd suggest that when you're a little older you keep an open mind. Even if your mates are male, it doesn't mean your relationship will be less than normal. That however, is a conversation for you to have with your dad," Kaien stated looking at Isshin meaningfully.

Ichigo was slightly uncomfortable with how this conversation was going to he decided to ask a question that he had been curious about. "What did you mean when you said we'll come of age? What does that mean? What's gonna happen?"

"Ahh, that's a good question Ichigo!" Kaien grinned at the orange haired boy. "It will happen shortly before your twenty-first birthday. It's almost like a second puberty, but a lot less annoying. Basically your powers will show. Strongly at first since you won't know how to control them. That will probably freak you out a bit but since you'll be expecting it, you'll be fine. Your scent marker will manifest. You won't be able to control that either. It will be really strong when you're doing certain things. Any kind of exercise will cause the scent to increase. You won't sweat though. That's something you lose when you come of age. You'll physically change too. You're body will take on what is called a peak physical form. All in all, you'll be perfect. You'll be at your strongest and your heart will stop beating," at that Kaien was interrupted.

"Stop beating?" Ichigo asked this quietly but was starting to panic on the inside. The tickle rose.

'_Calm down Ichi, let him explain before we freak out. You're making me thirsty._' Shiro voiced to his twin.

'_Oh shut up,_' Ichigo replied.

"Your heart will only beat when you are feeding off of someone, or someone is feeding off of you. It's the only time your body needs blood flow so the heart only beats under those circumstances," Kaien explained gently since he knew Ichigo was beginning to lose it again. He decided to take a chance and throw out some different information that he thought they would enjoy.

"You probably haven't noticed yet, but your sense of smell is the first thing to increase after you've had blood for the first time. That and your sight will only get better as the years go by. They'll reach their full potential when you come of age. Your eyes will glow since your vision will change. You'll get wicked fast too. You think you're good at fighting now, wait until your speed catches up to you. You'll have to tone it down so no one notices during sparring sessions."

"So we'll be able to run super fast?" Shiro asked interestedly. He loved running. If he could go faster, this was going to be great.

"You sure will. At your peak speed no one human will even see you," Kaien chuckled a bit at Shiro's enthusiasm for that particular perk. After that there was a moment of silence as all in the room tried to take in all the information the vampire had given them.

"You were made a vampire," Ichigo said into the silence.

"Yes, I was," Kaien replied simply.

"How do you make a vampire?"

"Depends on who you're turning. With a human, you have to drain them almost completely and then give them a good portion of your own blood. Its tricky, you have to know exactly when to stop so they don't die."

"What about a dual?" Shiro asked.

"They're different. Duals don't usually get changed unless they're mates with a vampire. Duals age and die so the vampire will change them and turn them immortal. When changing over a dual, you don't need to take as much blood. Just a pint or so is all you need. They only need a small amount in return, just a taste really. So if you do decide to make a dual your lunch, don't let them drink from you in return unless you plan on keeping them as a sort of pet for eternity."

"I thought vampires and werewolves didn't get along," Renji stated.

"Don't forget that duals aren't just wolves, they can be predatory mammal. We're not the best of friends, but we aren't at war or anything. Most of the conflicts that happen between vampires and duals are products of species snobbery. It usually has to do with territory disputes. Fights between the two species are few and far between," Kaien stated with a pointed look at Isshin.

"What do they look like when they change?" Shiro wanted to know.

"They become that animal. If they're a werewolf, they turn into a wolf. If they're a werelion, they turn into a lion. Basically you've got canines, felines, and bears."

"Bears?" Renji asked.

"Yeah, haha, bears." At that last statement, the atmosphere in the room lightened a bit. It seemed comical to everyone that there would be people who could change into bears.

"Do you have any more questions you'd like me to answer tonight?" Kaien asked the room after a good ten minutes of comfortable silence.

"No, not really," Ichigo and Shiro spoke at the same time. Shinji and Renji agreed that they didn't have any more questions for the vampire either.

"Then I think it's time you four said good night to Kaien and got ready for bed," Isshin told the boys.

"Ok," they all said at once.

* * *

After all their questions were answered, the boys were exhausted. Ichigo and Shiro needed to feed each other, so they said goodbye to Kaien and went upstairs to take care of it. It wouldn't take long so they decided to just sleep in Shiro's bed for the night. Shinji and Renji decided to take showers since they really didn't want to watch what they knew was going to happen.

Once the boys were upstairs, Isshin decided to ask what had been bugging him since the last time he saw Kaien. He pulled out the second note the vampire had left for them.

"Kaien, did you know this would happen? I mean, did you know Masaki was going to die?" Isshin asked in a hushed voice. He was referring to the lines in the "poem" that said, "_The fire will burn in sorrow But will be smothered by the bond When the twelfth year ends_."

"No. I had no idea that would happen," Kaien answered honestly. "Usually the trigger is something simple that just sets them off. It's never been anything serious like a death before. It's always been something along the lines of a friend moving away or a pet gets lost. I do know that her death wasn't an accident. I told you before; it was probably one of the Weres. I know now for a fact that it was. I don't know their name, but I know the animal. It was a _Felis concolor__, _or more commonly known as, a mountain lion. What the hell a mountain lion was doing in Japan, I have no idea. I'm working on it Isshin. Someone took away the mother of my offspring. That is unforgivable." Isshin was stunned at the last bit of what Kaien said. He didn't realize this vampire was protective of him and Masaki as well.

"Thank you, Kaien," Isshin stated sincerely.

"It's all I can do for now. Keep them safe. All of them. They're all going to need you. I'll come by soon to check on them again."

"Alright, you're welcome any time." And with that Kaien left once again. Isshin felt better about the situation now that it was out in the open. The next few years would be hard, but he loved his sons and it would be worth it.

* * *

__**AN: I took the time to do some editing if you haven't already noticed. I'm going to be deleting the separate story that includes the Q&A session since it is now a part of this chapter. **


	5. Chapter 4

_Nine Years Later: July 13__th_

'_Is it really necessary for us to participate in this shit?_' Ichigo thought as he looked at his white-haired twin over his shoulder.

'_I'm sure if you thought about it hard enough I'd be able to really kick his ass and then he wouldn't be able to have the stupid thing,_' Shiro replied.

"Dudes, knock it the fuck off. I'm so sick of you givin' each other that look. I know what you're doing so just say it out in the open," Renji stated in a frustrated tone. He really didn't like it when they used their "brain talk" as he liked to call it when they were hanging out.

"Sorry Renji," Ichigo sighed. He was tired, cranky, and a lot hungry. It had been a little while since he fed off his brother, but he was afraid to ask for the privilege. Shiro was too busy channeling Ichigo's anger to notice. The two boys had been making a lot of calls to their landlord to fix things that Shiro had broken in a random fit. Their apartment had been nice when they moved it, but Shiro had destroyed almost everything at least once.

"Why do you guys still do that anyway, I mean, I can see why you'd do it around normal people, but it's just us right now," Renji said sheepishly.

"We do it because it's natural to do it. It's a hell of a lot easier than talkin' and just because yer our friend doesn't mean we want ya ta know everythin' that's goin' on in our heads. Besides, you prolly wouldn't like it anyway," Shiro replied, trying extremely hard not to snarl at his friend, but even then his words still had a bit of a bite to them.

'_Shiro, settle down,_' Ichigo projected.

'_S'yer fault I'm like this,_' Shiro bit back.

'_I know. I'm sorry._' With that, Ichigo got up from his seat in their living room and went to their bedroom. He needed sleep.

"Dammit, what the hell did you say to him?" Renji demanded of Shiro after he heard the bedroom door close and the lock click.

"Nothing, don't worry about it, I'll fix it later," Shiro sighed. Sighing was something everyone seemed to be doing a lot lately. Especially after Ichigo took a snap at Isshin a few months back. Shiro shuddered at the memory.

_A little over six months ago…_

_They had just been in the process of cooking dinner when Isshin cut himself accidentally with a butcher knife. The smell hit Ichigo hard and he tackled him to the ground, snarling as he went for the throat. Luckily, Shiro had been able to fight his sympathetic feelings or their father would have been devoured by both of them. In a moment of quick thinking, Shiro grabbed the same knife and slit open his palm, yanked Ichigo off Isshin and forced his hand into his brother's mouth. Shiro yanked his cell phone out of his pocket with Ichigo still latched on to his hand and sent Kaien a "911" text. Once Ichigo had enough blood to come back to his senses be became extremely upset that he almost "ate" his dad and had locked himself in the bathroom. _

_When Kaien arrived, Shiro was attempting to bandage up the puncture wounds in Isshin's neck, but was having difficulty due to his hands shaking from fighting the urge to just finish what Ichigo started. The smell was so strong and so appetizing. He was grateful that Ichigo had left the room because he didn't think he could handle both their bloodlust urges at the same time again. Kaien used his strange power to clear the air so nothing was left but the briny scent of the sea. Shiro left patching up Isshin to Kaien and went to check on his twin. _

_After a small amount of begging, Ichigo let Shiro into the bathroom, but locked the door once he was inside. Ichigo was practically in tears, curled up in a ball in front of the toilet, and smelled like blood. Shiro understood why when Ichigo sat up quickly and heaved into the porcelain bowl. Ichigo was throwing up everything he had drunk from Shiro and Isshin. Shiro couldn't make out any thoughts from his twin, just pure self-hatred and defeat. Ichigo's inner turmoil became too much for him and tears slipped out of his gold and black eyes._

That had been when Kaien decided it would be best for all of them if they moved into their own place. They hadn't moved out when they graduated high school because they were taking correspondence courses at University so they wouldn't risk having accidents at school. This incident, however, could not be ignored and they had to take the step. Kaien put them up in a two-bedroom apartment in the same building where he lived so he could be close by in case something happened. They hadn't seen Isshin since. Shiro talked to him on the phone, but Ichigo refused and was too worried about a repeat occurrence to see the man in person. Now they had been in the apartment for six months and their birthday was literally around the corner.

"Seriously though dude, what were you guys mind-melding about?" Renji asked the pale twin.

"The party," Shiro replied.

"Oh. Wait, what party?"

"Kaien's been planning it for months I guess. He only told us about it like, a week ago er somthin' and it's gonna be a total nightmare." He chuckled at the fact that for Renji, it would be a literal nightmare, not a figurative one.

"I see," Renji sighed closing his eyes. After a minute of processing this information he yelled, "Wait, why the hell wasn't I invited?"

"Ren, don't be stupid. Kaien only invited vampires and weres. You'd be nothin' more 'n' food at this party, unless yer into that?" Shiro cackled a little at his own joke.

"Shut the fuck up! Ok, I guess I can see why I can't go, but it still pisses me off."

"Get over it, Ren."

"Fuck you!"

"Not likely."

The two boys were face-to-face snarling at each other at this point. They may have been good friends, but both had tempers that were too similar to get anything accomplished in an argument. Renji knew he wouldn't win if it came to blows so he backed off.

"I assume that Shinji will be there then?" he asked.

"Yeah, little fucker. He's practically made Kaien his bitch these days anyway, little shit needs to find a mate before he turns Kaien into a bloodless corpse." Shinji had matured into an adult vampire that May. Nothing changed much, but his bloodlust increased and was constantly demanding more and more. Kaien was having a hard time keeping him fed.

"So he's still all chomp-chomp?"

"Yeah," Shiro laughed. "He's too busy trying to get Kaien to put out that he hasn't figured out what his power is yet. Kaien's hoping he'll find his mate at the party so he'll be fed enough to start gettin' his shit together."

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Shiro knew he needed to go check on Ichigo, but was feeling a little guilty for throwing the blame on his twin for snapping at Renji. Renji opened his mouth to say something when they heard a blood-curdling scream come from the bedroom.

Shiro tried to bolt to where the sound was coming from but as soon as he was on his feet, he was hit with a wave of pain and crumpled to the floor.

'_SHIRO!_' Ichigo called to him through their connection. His "voice" was full of fear and strangled pain. Shiro had a pretty good idea what was happening so he forced as much of the pain down as he could to tell Renji what he needed.

"Get…Ka-Kaien!"

Renji didn't hesitate and bolted out of the apartment and ran to retrieve the vampire. Shiro slowly got to his knees and crawled as fast as his limbs let him to the locked bedroom door.

'_Ichi…the door's…locked_.' Even thinking was taxing on his body and it took a lot of effort to get through to his twin. Since yelling his name, Ichigo had been silent and now Shiro could feel him slipping into unconsciousness and started to panic. He had to be with him for this. He _had_ to. After what seemed like an hour of wracking his brain for how to get in the room, he hesitantly shut it off. Instinct took over and with shimmering eyes, he reached his right hand up towards the door knob and concentrated on it as much as his tired mind would let him. A small, pulsing white ball surrounded in a red glow grew at his fingertips and when he let it go, it shot straight at the door knob and blew it to pieces, leaving a splintered hole both in the door and the door frame. All he had to do now was get close enough to push it open. Once he had that task done, he just had to get to his brother. Ichigo was lying face down on the floor with is face turned towards the door. Even though he was unconscious, his face was twisted in exhaustion and his mouth was wide open, panting hard and fast, trying to suck in as much air as possible. After clawing his way to Ichigo, Shiro took his thumbnail and dragged it across his neck harshly. The cut was shallow, but he knew it would do the trick. If Ichigo smelled it, he would drink it whether he was down for the count or not. Shiro rolled Ichigo onto his side and nuzzled his neck to get at a good angle for what he knew he needed to do. This would be their last feeding before they came of age. Kaien had explained it. They had to have blood while the change was happening.

Shiro bit harshly into Ichigo's neck and gave the fresh wounds a good hard suck earning him a gasp from a now conscious Ichigo. Ichigo was acting on pure instinct now as well and as soon as he smelled his brother's blood he did the same.

The exchange was intense. Their bodies were on fire, but not the burning they had been accustomed to up until this point. No, this was different. This was raw, and powerful. With newly found strength, Shiro lifted his arm that wasn't pinned by his own body to wrap it around Ichigo and clawed at his twin's back leaving rips in the thin cloth covering the skin. Ichigo moaned against his brother's neck and arched his back. Without thinking, his own free hand reached up and roughly snaked his fingers into Shiro's hair. It was at this point that Kaien and Renji came running into the room.

"What the hell are they doing?" Renji questioned none to quietly.

"They're changing," Kaien explained simply. Kaien decided not to go into any details right now. He had to watch to make sure they didn't drain each other completely.

Renji seemed to accept his answer, but on the inside he couldn't help but be a little disturbed by what he was seeing. His two best friends were gnawing hard on each other's necks and practically rutting against each other. That wouldn't have been so bad in Renji's mind, if not for the pleasure filled moans that kept escaping from both boys' mouths. Renji swallowed hard at the thought and then gasped when he noticed other things starting to happen.

Their bones were making popping noises and arms and legs seemed to grow longer as they intertwined. Muscles became more apparent and bulged in different places. Ichigo's skin became mottled as the color warped and shifted from a light tan to a pale cream color. Shiro's hair grew first and as it did, it created a messy pile of white on the floor behind him. Ichigo's grew, but not as much, it stopped when it reached about shoulder length.

Kaien gasped when he saw something he'd never seen before. Shiro's hair grew a long streak of orange near his right temple that was maybe two inches thick. It was the exact same shade as Ichigo's. Kaien looked over to Ichigo and noticed the same thing near his left temple, only the shock of hair shifted to white. Kaien looked back to Shiro and saw that Ichigo's hand that had been so tightly wound in his hair was slacking in its grip. It was time to stop them.

Kaien pushed a stunned Renji out of the room and shut the broken door as best as he could. It wouldn't be much of a barrier if anything went wrong and the boys went after the human, but it was better than nothing at this point. Kaien walked over to the twins and put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. This earned him a loud hiss as Ichigo let go of Shiro's neck and turned a tired but feral expression on his vampire father. The action had caused Shiro's grip on his neck to let up enough for his fangs to retreat from the wound. Snarling, Shiro opened his jaws and sunk his fangs back into his brother's neck earning him a loud moan. Ichigo was too far gone to bite back any more. As his brother continued to pull on his neck with deep sucks, his eyes fluttered closed and he gave a final rasping breath before he stopped breathing all together. _Well, at least he's done. _Kaien thought. Ichigo had finished the change and his heart was no longer beating. Now all Kaien had to do was get Shiro to pull out. He decided to just go for broke and pull out all the stops to get the job done. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"You'll kill him Hiyoke." His voice was quiet, but the impact of his words was evident when Shiro growled and suddenly disappeared from his previous spot. Kaien wasn't expecting that, but even more so, he wasn't expecting the paler twin to reappear on the floor on the other side of the room, flat on his back and gasping for air.

"It's ok Shiro," Kaien said softly as he looked at panic stricken eyes. "Let go, I know it's hard, but you have to let go." Kaien reached out with a hand and placed it on Shiro's cheek, rubbing it gently with his thumb. He channeled his power and let the calming scent of the sea wash over Shiro's prone body.

"Let go, my son." With those words, Shiro's eyes closed and with a single tear running down his cheek, he gave his last breath and his heart stopped.

"You did well. I'm so very proud of you both," Kaien whispered as he stood up. Everything mortal about his sons had died and when they woke up, they would be more fierce, more powerful, and more magnificent than any vampire he had ever seen before.

* * *

_July 14__th_

Renji had been sent home with the promise of a phone call with an update later. There were blood bags in the fridge for the "sleeping" vampires, but with a fresh body in the room, they might skip straight over the donated blood and go for the live kill. Renji was more than happy to vacate the premises.

After Shiro had finally passed out, it was Kaien's job to pick up both boys off the floor and get them into bed. Even though they were both quite literally dead to the world at that point, once Ichigo was laid down next to Shiro, he unconsciously snuggled up against his twin. It would be a while before they were rested enough to wake up, so to speak. For all intents and purposes, they were dead. So with the boys settled in for a long nap of sorts, Kaien had called Shinji over to sit with him and wait. It didn't take long for Shinji to show up since he had been living with the older vampire for quite some time. When Shinji was sixteen, he had told his adoptive parents that he was gay, and they immediately kicked him out. Shinji took it rather well and just packed up his stuff and showed up at Kaien's door. Kaien let him move in, no questions asked. He didn't realize what he was getting himself into at the time. Shinji's lust for his blood was pretty intense and he was practically begging for it at every turn. Like then, for instance.

"Com'on Kaien, just a little? 'M hungry," Shinji whined as he rubbed his nose along the older vampire's neck. They were sitting next to each other on the couch in the twins' living room killing time before the new vampires woke up. It had been a few hours and now it was early morning.

"Oh for the love of….ok fine, but when I tell you to stop, you stop or I'll throw you across the room, got it?" Kaien replied, too tired to put up much of a fight.

With that Shinji extended his fangs and ripped into Kaien's neck earning him a disgruntled hiss.

"Be more gentle you little snot," Kaien chided. Shinji just giggled against his neck as he drank heavily. He decided to see how far Kaien would let him take it and without letting go of the man's neck, he lifted up off the couch enough so he could get into a position to straddle the older man. Kaien let him but when the blonde started to grind his slim hips into his own, he reached out and stilled them with strong hands.

"Shinji, you are pushing your luck," Kaien said through gritted teeth. "Now knock it off, you've had enough."

With that, Shinji gave a little whine and pulled back, licking up the blood that he had let slip by his lips.

"You're no fun, you know that?" Shinji replied, looking Kaien in the eye as he got up off the man's lap and moved to sit in the chair across the room. He was still hungry, but knew not to push it. He'd been thrown through walls more times than he could count for trying to get more from Kaien after the man had told him to stop.

"You just need to find your mate so you can leave me alone," Kaien snorted.

"Psh…what if you're my mate?" Shinji retorted, almost wishful thinking, but he knew it wasn't to be.

"If I was your mate, you'd know. I've explained it to you before."

"I know, whatever. Sounds like they're waking up," Shinji sighed out when he heard a slight rustling of sheets coming from the bedroom. Kaien whipped his head around to look at the damaged bedroom door. He hadn't heard anything, but then again, Shinji's hearing was exceptional, even for a vampire, so it wasn't surprising that the blonde had heard more than he did.

"Stay here, I'm going to warm up some blood and bring it to them. I'll call you in, in a minute. When you see them, try not to sound like too much of an ass, ok?" Kaien stated gruffly as he got up and went to the fridge. He pulled out two bags of blood and heated them in the microwave.

"What's that supposed to mean? I didn't look that different when I changed," Shinji huffed crossing his arms across his chest.

"These guys…well they changed a lot. It was sort of disturbing to be honest." Kaien poured the blood into a couple of coffee mugs and made his way to the bedroom, giving Shinji a pointed look that clearly said _stay here _before opening the busted door.

When Kaien walked in, sure enough, Shiro was sitting up in bed rubbing his eyes with closed fists. Ichigo was still sound asleep.

"How do you feel?" Kaien said softly knowing that loud noises would be too intense on the sensitive ears. Shiro hissed and brought his hands down to look Kaien in the face.

"Stop fuckin' yellin'!" Shiro winced when his own voice was still too loud for his poor ears. Kaien gave a low chuckle at that and walked up to the white-haired twin and handed him one of the mugs.

"Here, drink up, it will help with your control."

"Thanks," Shiro whispered as he took the cup. He lifted it to his lips and his nose crinkled in distaste.

"I know, it's not fresh and it smells weird, but I can't give you anything else. You can't bite Ichigo for a bit, so you're gonna have to deal with this for a couple days."

"Gross…ok." Shiro then plugged his nose with one hand while the other held the mug up to his lips and he quickly gulped down all of its contents. Shuddering at the taste, he set the cup down on the nightstand and glanced at his sleeping twin.

"I didn't go too far, did I?" Shiro asked quietly, looking up at Kaien with a pleading expression. Kaien sighed. Again.

"It's hard to say for sure, but I really don't think so. You pulled out pretty quickly when I told you to, so he should be fine. You have to remember, I'm just as new to this as you are. You're the first twins in existence, so I'm learning as we go too. From what I've heard from other vampire offspring, they are usually woken up after being prodded by their other half. But since you're here, in the physical world, he doesn't have that."

"So I can wake him up?" Shiro took a lot more from what Kaien said than what he had actually meant.

"I'm not sure, Shiro," Kaien was confused by the look of determination on the face of the new vampire. He was pretty sure he hadn't said anything like that and Shiro was misinterpreting him. Shiro climbed out from underneath the covers and threw a leg over his twin and sat on all fours above him. He shut his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could on getting into Ichigo's mind. He felt a slight tug on the connection and then he passed out, slumping onto his brother.

Kaien panicked and went into overdramatic mode. He'd never seen a vampire faint for no reason and so, thinking something had gone wrong, he set down the other mug on the night stand and walked slowly out of the room and to where Shinji was. Shinji eyed the dark-haired vampire suspiciously.

"What?" Shinji demanded. Kaien hung his head and dropped his body to lay face first on the couch, and sighed.

"I think I killed them." Shinji just stared. He blinked once, twice, one more time before he freaked out.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU KILLED THEM?" Shinji got up out of his chair and ran into the bedroom. He sighed in relief when he saw the boys awkwardly piled up on the bed. He left the room and went back to the silent vampire and smacked him hard on the back of the head.

"You idiot, if they were dead they'd be a pile of ash. You told me that remember. Sheesh, you panic way too easily. You're such a drama queen," Shinji growled. Kaien turned his head and looked at the blonde. He felt a little stupid.

"I guess I didn't think of that," he said sheepishly, giving Shinji a lopsided grin. After thinking about it for a minute, he realized what must have happened.

"I can only call this a theory, we'll have to ask them once they're awake, but I told Shiro how when others like you woke up, they said it was their inner personality that pushed them to wake up. Since he's an actual person, and not just a division of Ichigo, he couldn't do that. Not here at least."

"So you think he slipped into Ichigo's mind." It was a statement more than a question. Shinji could be pretty smart when he wasn't focused on blood. When Kaien nodded, Shinji just rolled his eyes, folded his arms back over his chest and sat down again.

"You're retarded sometimes, you know that Kaien?" Shinji said.

"Hahaha…yeah...," Kaien replied quietly. Now that he figured out what Shiro was up to, he just wished he'd hurry up.

* * *

Shiro gazed at his surroundings when he opened his eyes. He was surrounded by sideways skyscrapers. The sky was a perfect shade of blue with wispy white clouds floating by lazily in the light breeze. _Not a bad place, now where the fuck is Ichi?_ Shiro thought to himself.

"I'm right here, Shiro," Ichigo's voice startled the pale twin and he whipped his body around to look at him.

"Oh thank god, you gotta wake up Ichi," Shiro said as he walked up to his brother.

"I tried, I don't know how." Ichigo lowered his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. Shiro pulled back a fist and slammed it right into Ichigo's face.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" Ichigo asked clutching his nose.

"Gotta wake up, King." With that, Shiro pulled his fist back again, but Ichigo disappeared from in front of his and reappeared behind him.

"What the fuck? Why did you call me King? And stop trying to punch me!" Ichigo yelled indignantly. Shiro was trying to literally punch his twin awake, but since Ichigo was dodging his attacks now, he had to do something else. In a moment of impulse, he flashed to Ichigo's side, grabbed him, and threw him over his shoulder.

"Shiro, put me down! What's gotten into you?" Ichigo cried as he pounded on Shiro's back. It hurt, Ichigo was no wuss, but Shiro was determined. He had to wake Ichigo up. It was a burning need that he didn't quite understand, but he knew that Ichigo couldn't stay here. So, he walked over to the edge of the building and with a screaming protest from his twin, he jumped. He heard his brother screaming in his ear as the ground came rushing up at them.

* * *

"Get the fuck off me, Shiro!" Kaien and Shinji heard Ichigo yell from the other room followed by a loud thump and a cackle. Sighing, they got up and walked to the room that the twins were in.

When they walked in, Ichigo was standing up pointing a long finger at his twin, who was rolling on the floor, cackling like a hyena.

"God, King, you shoulda seen yer face!" Shiro said in between laughs.

"You asshole! You tossed us off a fucking building for fuck's sake!" Ichigo yelled. Shiro just let out another stream of laughter. Kaien and Shinji stood open-mouthed staring at the fighting twins and then Shinji chuckled.

"At least he didn't stab you," Shinji said. "My guy ran me through with a sword to wake me up." When Ichigo's face went from angry to shocked, Shiro just let out another round of cackles. Ichigo looked back at his twin.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"No idea, King, but these are your feelings not mine, so there's something wrong with you not me," Shiro said after settling down a bit. Ichigo's face would have turned bright red, but since his heart wasn't pumping blood at the moment, there wasn't anything to rush to his cheeks.

"Okay, that's enough boys, Ichigo, there's blood on the night stand. Drink up," Kaien interjected. Ichigo did as he was told and pounded down the now room temperature blood.

"Gah! That was disgusting!" he growled as he set the cup back down. He shook out his body and took a deep unnecessary breath. '_Well that was completely unsatisfying,_' he thought.

'_Tell me about it,_' Shiro responded. Ichigo gave a small laugh at that. Shinji rolled his eyes.

"How do you feel, boys?" Kaien asked.

"Like shit," the twins responded at the same time in upset voices.

"I thought we were supposed to be all vampy and shit, what the hell is up with feeling like I got hit by a train?" Shiro asked the oldest vampire. Kaien was about to answer when Shinji butted in.

"Don't worry, it goes away once you'd have a good meal." Ichigo snorted and sat back down on the bed.

"Alright, so let's get you fed so Renji can come see you. He really doesn't want to be a snack, so you get to drink what we've got in the fridge for now." With that, Kaien walked out of the room towards the kitchen. The boys got up to follow.

"By the way, nice hair guys," Shinji said over his shoulder.

"What?" the twins asked simultaneously.

"Oh just go look in a mirror for Christ's sake," Shinji huffed and strutted off. Shiro and Ichigo shrugged and made their way to the bathroom. They both knew their hair was longer, but when they saw the streak of color on their temples, both twins gasped. Ichigo reached a hand up and ran his fingers through the longer hair. The white streak was slightly softer than the rest of his orange mop.

'_I like it,_' Ichigo smiled. Shiro turned to grin at his twin and nodded.

'_Me too,_' Shiro reached out and pulled Ichigo into a loving hug. '_Sorry I had to throw you off a building. I couldn't think of what else to do since you were dodging my punches._'

'_It's ok. I woulda done the same thing,_' Ichigo laughed out loud as he hugged back.

"Blood's warm!" Kaien called from the kitchen. They released each other and headed in the direction of food.

* * *

Later that evening, Renji was pounding on the door of their apartment. Shinji let him in and was almost run over by the over excited red head.

"You'll never guess what I just found out…what the fuck happened to your hair?" Renji cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"We grew up, it grew. Other than that, no idea." Ichigo responded.

"Whatever, ok so seriously, you'll never guess."

"Well get on with it an' tell us stupid!" Shinji said as he flicked Renji's ear.

"Rukia and Toushiro are duals," Renji spit out ignoring Shinji's jibe.

There was silence in the room.

"Are you high?" Shiro asked after a moment.

"No! When Kaien kicked me out last night, I went over to their place and they sat me down and told me. I was so surprised, but that isn't all. They knew you guys were vampires! From the very beginning!"

"Hold the phone, Renji. They're duals, and they knew we were vampires… before we did?" Ichigo asked confused.

"That's what I said isn't it? Anyway, they were going into explanations and I had to tell them that I knew everything already."

Kaien was being awfully quiet during this exchange and Ichigo noticed. He gave the vampire, who was staring off into space quietly whistling, a long glance before he spoke.

"You knew didn't you." Kaien fidgeted a bit before answering.

"Yes?" Kaien responded.

"What the hell? Why didn't you tell us? We've been lying to them all this time for no damn reason?" Shiro asked throwing his empty blood cup at the vampire.

"Yeah, it's part of the reason I didn't interfere with your friendships. I knew what they were and that if a situation arose, they could handle it. They probably smelled it the first time you met," Kaien said sheepishly.

"Okay…you're a dick, you know that?" Shiro said straight-faced to his biological father. Kaien just nodded.

"So what do they change into?" Ichigo interjected before the situation got too heavy.

"Um…Arctic Fox? I think that's what they said," Renji stated.

"Both of them?" Renji nodded. "That explains a lot. Even though they're step-siblings they're sure an awful lot alike." Shiro huffed.

"They'll be at the party tomorrow night, it was supposed to be a surprise…" Kaien pouted.

"Sorry, man," Renji whispered, knowing the man would hear him. Renji was still bitter about not knowing about the party or being invited even though he knew how dangerous it would be for him there. At least he knew about it now and none of their other human friends had a clue about any of this.

"Ok, now that we've eaten that disgusting shit, what do we do now?" Shiro asked. Kaien thought about it for a minute.

"Well, I suggest we figure out what it was you did to the door. That's some hole you put in it, Shiro," Kaien laughed.

"It was an accident! I don't know what happened, I just wanted to get in there so bad and then bam! I'mma firin' mah lazer outta my fingers!"

"What did it look like?" Ichigo asked. Rather than try to explain it with words, Shiro projected a visual memory of it to his brother.

"Whoa," Ichigo whispered after he saw it.

"What? What was it?" Kaien asked excitedly.

"I dunno, but it looked freakin' cool," Ichigo replied. Shinji huffed.

"Can you do it again?" he asked Shiro.

"I can try, what should I blow up?" Shiro laughed.

"Um…" Ichigo said looking around the room. "How 'bout the mug on the coffee table?"

"I'll try, but no promises, ok?" Ichigo nodded and let Shiro get to work. Kaien, Shinji, and Renji all stood back since they didn't want to end up like the bedroom door.

Shiro stood up with both arms at his side and concentrated on the mug. His eyes shimmered as he lifted his hand and pointed his fingers at the cup. Sure enough, a small ball of light grew at his fingertips and in a flash grew to the size of a small melon, and without thinking, Shiro released it. Everyone ducked as the whole thing exploded and glass shards from the cup and coffee table went flying around the room slowly disintegrating as they went. Ichigo stood back up with his mouth dropping open.

"Cool," he whispered in awe.

"You'll have to work on controlling that, it seems quite dangerous," Kaien laughed. Shiro was glancing between his hand and the now non-existent coffee table. After a minute a grin split his face almost in two.

"Fuckin' awesome…" Shiro said clenching his hand into a fist. Ichigo laughed at his expression.

"Now, can you do that other thing you did?" Kaien asked, not sure how to explain what it was. The twin's knew what he was talking about and through their connection decided to play with it.

"You mean this?" They said at the same time and then disappeared to reappear a split second later switching positions so Ichigo was where Shiro had been and vice versa.

"I wonder what the distance limitations are on that? I've seen vampires do something similar, but different. It's called a flash step, but while the result is the same, the visual effect and sound are different. Those that can do it use it to get around. It's a hell of a lot faster than running. I've never been able to do it though, how's it work?" Kaien wondered.

"I dunno, I just think about where I want to be, and then I'm there," Shiro replied. "For instance…" Shiro disappeared and reappeared in the kitchen opening the refrigerator. He reached in, grabbed a soda and then was suddenly back in his spot on the couch. "See, no sweat."

"Speaking of sweat, lemme smell you," Shinji said as he walked over to Shiro. He was curious to see what his scent marker would be. His own was a floral scent, a light honeysuckle with vanilla musk undertones; feminine and masculine at the same time. Kaien hated it. Shinji leaned over Shiro ignoring the growls coming from both twins as he did so and inhaled deeply through his nose.

"Mmmm…smells like black cherries and dark chocolate…" Shinji couldn't help but give Shiro's neck a little lick. Shiro snorted and gave him a good push causing Shinji to end up on his ass on the floor chuckling.

"That's what his blood tastes like, too," Ichigo commented quietly. He had always been a little embarrassed about the blood exchange because of how intense it had become the past couple years. It became an increasingly sexual experience at least for him, and while Shiro didn't seem to mind, Ichigo would blush whenever the subject came up. He thought he liked it a little too much. Shiro zeroed in on his brother's thoughts and decided to tease him a little.

"Well, Ichi, do you smell as good as you taste?" Shiro snickered when he felt his brother's embarrassment.

"Oh! Let me smell!" Shinji squealed and hopped up off the floor to get a whiff of Ichigo. Shiro growled a little at that, but kept calm nonetheless. Ichigo didn't appreciate having Shinji so close to him at the moment, he really wanted to take a bite out of the blonde, but Shiro's calming vibe over their connection helped him a lot. He let Shinji run his nose up and down his neck before gently pushing the blonde away.

"Wow…" Shinji thought out loud. "You smell amazing…"

"So, what's it like?" Renji asked curiously. Being human, he didn't have the nose to pick up the different scents. Everyone smelled the same to him.

"Spicy citrus," Shiro beat Shinji to explaining. Ichigo's blood tasted like a combination of tangerines, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The taste was so intense that whenever Shiro drank from Ichigo, he always had a hard time letting go.

"Ichi, can I have a taste?" Shinji asked, slinking up to Ichigo again so he could crawl up his body. Shiro snarled loudly and Kaien grabbed Shinji by the back of his shirt and tossed him over the back of the couch where a soft "oof" was heard.

"Serves you right you damn pervert!" Shiro yelled over the couch. His possessiveness over his brother was a little strong sometimes. He really didn't want anyone else to ever feed from him, so he was secretly hoping Ichigo would find a human mate, but knew better than that. Ichigo would need another vampire or at least a dual to keep him sane.

"Shinji, you little shit, I don't care what you have to do, tomorrow night, at the party, you will find a mate. I don't care they are _the one_ or just someone to screw around with, you will find someone to do _something_ with so you can leave us alone!" Kaien yelled while pointing a finger at the blonde on the floor. Shinji just stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes. Kaien's eyes went wide when he saw the glinting piece of jewelry in the blonde's mouth.

"Oh for the love of…is that a freaking tongue ring? God dammit Shinji!" Kaien yelled. He threw his arms up in the air, shook his head and then sat back down with a loud sigh. "Why do I even bother with you?"

"Because you love me," Shinji said as he stood up batting his eyelashes at Kaien as he sat back down on the couch. _Our relationship is so incredibly awkward_, Kaien thought to himself as he rubbed his face with a hand. That reminded him.

"Hey, you boys should call your dad. He'll want to know you're all grown up," Kaien said looking at Shiro and Ichigo who had at some point moved to sit next to his twin. Ichigo had his head rested on Shiro's shoulder and Shiro's arm was laid over his shoulders. At the mention of their father, Ichigo visibly tensed, beating himself up all over again for what had happened the last time he had been near the man.

'_It's ok, Ichi, I'll talk to him,_' Shiro thought to relax his twin. It didn't work too well. He could feel the self-loathing bubbling to the surface of Ichigo's mind. Times like this were dangerous because Ichigo would get stuck in his own mind battling with intense emotions and Shiro could generally never reach him. '_Am I gonna have to toss you off a building again, Ichi? I know how to do that now, ya know,_' Shiro inquired cocking an eyebrow as he looked at his quiet twin. That got Ichigo's attention. He relaxed and settled back into his spot under Shiro's arm.

'_Thanks, Shiro,_' Ichigo smiled up at his twin. Shiro gave him a squeeze and then flashed into the bedroom where their cell phones were. He stayed in the room to make the call even though he knew everyone besides Renji would be able to hear both sides of the conversation anyway. He dialed the number and it was answered on the third ring.

"Shiro! How are you, son? How's Ichigo?" Isshin unloaded before giving Shiro a chance to answer.

"We're fine dad. I called to tell you that it happened last night," Shiro explained. Isshin knew what he was talking about. They had been expecting it for a couple weeks now.

"Oh, good. How was it?" Isshin asked having his curiosity peaked.

"It was weird, cool, and terrifying all at the same time."

"Well as long as you're both ok, but Ichigo, how is he? Can I talk to him?"

'_Absolutely not, Shiro,_' well there was the answer to that question.

"Dad, I don't think he's ready to talk just yet. He's still havin' a hard time with it. I'll work on it, I promise," Shiro assured his father. He knew Isshin didn't hold anything against Ichigo and wanted nothing more than to haul him into a big hug, but Ichigo thought otherwise.

"Ok, son. Just tell him I love him, okay?"

"He can hear you dad, he knows, don't worry. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about the big change. I gotta get goin', okay dad?"

"Sure, sure. I love you son, don't ever forget it," Isshin said strongly.

"I love you too, dad. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, son." With that, father and son hung up on their respective ends of the line. Shiro took a deep breath that gave him no relief before heading back out to the living room where everyone else was waiting. Ichigo had a glazed look in his eyes and Shiro decided it was time to feed him regardless of what Kaien said.

"Get out guys. Ichigo and I have things to do," Shiro said almost harshly.

"But I have to explain…" Kaien barely got out.

"Get. The. Fuck. Out."

Kaien opened his mouth to protest again, but snapped it shut when he received a hard glare from Shiro. _Oh well, guess they'll figure it out on their own,_ Kaien thought as he ushered a protesting blonde and redhead to the front door.

"Call me later guys!" Renji yelled before the door closed shut.

* * *

Shiro used his new found speed to flash to the door and lock it. Once it was secure, he grabbed Ichigo round the waist and flashed them to the bedroom in the blink of an eye.

'_Shiro, I'm fine, I really don't need anymore right now,_' Ichigo thought as his twin placed him on the bed.

'_Bullshit._' Shiro thought back. "Just shut up, ok? You do too need it. I can feel it, you're burning inside," Shiro stated out loud. "You can't lie to me about this, Ichigo."

Shiro ripped his shirt off and crawled into bed with his twin, pulling the covers over the both of them. He lay next to Ichigo on his back and tilted his head to the side so his brother would have better access. With a wordless demand thought by Shiro, Ichigo rolled onto his side and waited for his fangs to extend. It felt different for some reason, but he thought that was because he was different, no longer a child. Once his weapons were fully unsheathed, he growled lowly and bit hard into Shiro's neck.

Shiro arched his back unconsciously, pushing his chest and stomach closer against his brother. This felt so very different. Shiro wanted desperately to return the favor but held himself back. Ichigo needed blood without having to give any back.

Ichigo's grip on Shiro's neck tightened eliciting a deep moan from the pale twin. The pale twin lay there with eyes wide open, breath coming in short pants once his heart started back up. It was a weird feeling. With each pull of his blood, Shiro felt his body getting hotter and hotter until it was almost unbearable. Just like when they exchanged blood during the change, it was nothing like the fire they usually experienced. It was pure, desperate need for something. What that was, he didn't know, but his mind was starting to shut off and his body was taking control. A pale, white hand reached up and threaded long fingers into Ichigo's silky orange hair, pulling him closer to Shiro's neck.

Ichigo's mind was racing a mile a minute as he fought the urge to touch his brother intimately, but when Shiro grabbed his hair and all but yanked him closer, Ichigo lost any sense of right and wrong. He roughly undid the drawstring on Shiro's pajama bottoms and dipped a creamy hand inside to grab his brother's obviously hard member.

Shiro gasped when he felt cold fingers wrap around his cock and give a gentle tug. Ichigo ran his thumb over the slit and pressed, becoming more aroused than he already was when a small amount of precum came out. Completely lost to the sensation of having his blood be taken and his dick stroked, Shiro turned into a writhing, moaning puddle of mush. Ichigo timed his pulls on Shiro's neck to be in sync with his hand's tugs.

Shiro felt his stomach tighten and when Ichigo ground his own covered member into his leg he couldn't hold it in anymore and came hard into his brother's hand, eyes rolling to the back of his head as a loud growl escaped his lips. Ichigo took one more pull from Shiro's neck before cumming inside of his pants. Catching his breath as his heartbeat started to slow back to its still state, Shiro rubbed Ichigo's side gently with the hand that wasn't still wrapped in the other's hair.

Ichigo pulled out cleaning up the wound on his brother's neck with his tongue and then watched as not two, but four puncture wounds closed and disappeared.

'_What the hell? How are there four?_' Ichigo wondered as he sat up to look at his disheveled brother.

"Because… you have… four fangs now," Shiro breathed out. He unwrapped his hand from Ichigo's hair and ran his index finger along Ichigo's bottom lip. "You have two on top and two on bottom. Just like me. See?" Shiro said, his voice more steady as he smiled wide for his twin to see. Sure enough his bottom canine teeth had extended as well. Ichigo just hummed in satisfaction at that explanation and then noticed he was sticky in places he shouldn't be.

"Shiro… what?" He ran a finger through the mess that was on Shiro's stomach and upon realizing what it was made a disgusted face. "Oh. My. God."

"I think Kaien forgot to mention something, how 'bout you?" Shiro asked a little annoyed with the dark haired vampire. He had completely forgotten the fact that Kaien had tried to explain _something_ to them before Shiro kicked them out.

"Fuh…that man, I swear to god, I'm gonna drain him dry next time I see him," Ichigo snarled as he rolled of Shiro to head to the shower. In the back of both their minds, however, they were just glad it hadn't gotten any farther than that. Sure they cuddled, bathed together, and shared a bed, not to mention Shiro's constant teasing, but there were some things they just didn't want to ever share, and sex was one of those things.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder at his twin when he reached the bathroom door. "You coming, Shiro?"

"Yeah, gotta get all this jizz off of me before it dries like glue," Shiro snorted. Ichigo chucked at that as he turned the water on and waited for the temperature to be just right. He was feeling more calm now than he had in a while. Then a stray thought came to mind.

"Dude, we still have to go to that stupid party tomorrow night," Ichigo groaned.

"Son of a…."

* * *

**Alright guys, if you're reading this for the first time, thanks for stopping in! If you've been reading this for a while, I promise the next chapter will be up soon! IT'S GONNA BE A HUGE PARTY!**


	6. Chapter 5

The line outside the Twisted Flower was wrapped around the block. The event of the night was well known throughout the supernatural community, but not everyone was on the guest list. That didn't stop every hopeful from getting in line anyway.

"This is bullshit. We're on the fucking list so why are we standing way at the end of the line?" a rough voice grumbled to his group of friends. He didn't like to be kept waiting.

"Maybe because you're too stupid to just walk up to the doorman and give him your name," came a second voice from out of nowhere. Grey-green eyes shone with mirth at the expense of the impatient guest.

"Kaien, you ass, why didn't you say something when I talked to you earlier then?" A general sound of agreement came from the young guests posse.

"Because I like to have fun. Go on ahead. I'm sure the boys will be happy to finally meet you," Kaien stated with a wink as he waved them forward towards the door.

One by one, the group made its way to the door. Other hopefuls in line gaped at what they were seeing. A tall, tan and toned young man with shocking blue eyes and cotton candy blue hair followed by his entourage. It was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. Future King of the Panthers, come out to play.

* * *

"All right boys, there's a shit load of hotties outside and they all reek of sex," Shinji exclaimed as he strolled through the VIP door of the club. The twins were lounging around waiting for their big moment. According to Kaien, who had planned this whole fiasco, they were going to be introduced into the supernatural world about an hour into the party. The idea was to get the crowd loose and excited. Apparently that wouldn't be necessary.

"What makes you say that Shin?" Ichigo asked, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

"They just smell like they're all hoping to get some. Especially the chicks…gross," as he thought about that, Shinji shook his body out like he was trying to rid himself of the heebie jeebies.

"Ok, seriously Shinji, you gotta shut up. Not all of us are disgusted by girls and their parts," Kaien interjected as he popped his head through the door. "Everyone's here. I mean everyone. Now remember boys, yes, you want to find your mates, but you don't have to do it tonight. Try to have some fun too. See if you can flesh out some more of your hidden talents. You've got to have quite a few…"

"What do you mean?" Shiro interrupted before Kaien could finish. "I thought I already found my ability."

"Oh…about that…there's another thing I haven't told you. It's sort of a surprise. You'll find out tonight when I introduce you though. So just sit tight and wait for the signal." And with that he rushed out of the room before they could ask any more questions. That had been a close one.

"What does that fucker mean? Why the hell is he always dropping surprises on us? God!" Shiro yelled as he held up his hand to the wall. Red white light erupted out of his hand and with a loud crack, fractures bloomed along the surface before collapsing on the floor in a dusty heap.

Ichigo and Shinji just stared at Shiro for a moment.

"Dude, you need to calm down. You do that out there, with all those people, and it's gonna cause a riot," Shinji whispered. He was being completely serious.

"It's not his fault Shin. It was me, not him. He can't help it sometimes." Ichigo of course was referring to the fact that he could appear calm on the outside but be raging on the inside. Shiro, able to feel the turmoil, was not so good at controlling it.

"Fuck. Ok. I can handle this. We just gotta not let shit get to us, ok Ichi?" Shiro asked, taking deep, calming, unnecessary breaths.

"Yes. We can handle this. I can handle this."

All he had to do was calm himself down for the next hour and then face the crowd.

* * *

The music was pounding through the partygoers' bodies. Everyone vampire and dual alike was out on the dance floor moving to the deep rhythms. Things were going just as planned. The guests were having a good time and remaining curious, wondering when they'd get to meet the newest members of their secret race. Striking blue eyes scanned the open room for any sign of unfamiliarity. He'd met all of these people before so none of them could be the newbies. He sauntered over to the bar, away from his comrades, to ask Kaien a question.

"Yo, when are they gonna make an appearance? I'm gonna get bored and leave," Grimmjow growled. He wouldn't really leave, but he wanted Kaien to tell him something, anything.

"Soon. After this next song is over. Be at the front of the stage. You'll like what you see. I can promise you that." Kaien replied. He had a hunch about the Panther Prince. He might be untamable, but he could get the job done.

Grimmjow frowned, but made his way toward to the stage where the DJ was set up. If this was where he had to be to get the best view, he'd stay there until he was satisfied.

* * *

"Alright boys, you're up," the bouncer outside the VIP room announced. They were to make their way to the side stage through a back tunnel and walk on stage when they were introduced. They were in position. The thrumming music stopped and all became silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to announce the coming of age of my two sons. Ichigo Kurosaki and Hiyoke Kurosaki!" Kaien announced. The air in the club smelled like a soft sea breeze. Kaien was going for dramatic effect then, Ichigo thought to himself.

The boys came out from back stage and the crowd took a collective breath in awe. The twins were beautiful; skin and eyes glowing in the club lighting, hair flowing slightly in the breeze from the ventilation system. Ichigo was feeling a little sheepish. Everyone was just staring at him. He took a look around the room quickly and noticed a couple things. One, everyone had their mouths hanging open like they were trying to catch unsuspecting insects, and two, some of them were shimmering. He spotted several people who looked like they had ears sticking up through their hair. Like cat ears. But when he'd try to focus on them, they'd shift and disappear.

_'Do you see that, Shiro?'_ Ichigo asked of his twin. He thought about what he had seen so his twin would know what he was talking about.

_'No, maybe it's your thing.'_ Shiro responded. He was trying really hard not to laugh out loud. This whole thing was ridiculous. He was being introduced to a group of freaks and all they could do was stare. Great. Kaien had let the silence go on long enough and thought now would be a good time to drop the bomb.

"On this night, we vampires and duals alike celebrate the welcoming of the newest members into our coven. From this day forward, they shall always be, your Prince Ichigo and Prince Hiyoke!" Kaien shouted to the now bustling crowd. Two faces whipped toward their announcer in question.

"All hail Prince Ichigo! All hail Prince Hiyoke!" The guests all yelled in unison. Then, to the twins surprise, everyone in the club got down on one knee and saluted them by placing their right fists over their hearts. Now Ichigo was down right pissed.

"**YOU BASTARD!**" he yelled as he jump kicked Kaien, right into the face, knocking him straight to the floor. "**WE'RE FUCKING ROYALTY? DON'T YOU THINK WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THIS BEFORE THIS STUPID ASS PARTY?**" Ichigo's voice had taken on a rather odd quality. It sounded super loud and like there were several of him yelling at once. Kind of how Shiro sounded when he yelled at him in his head.

Shiro watched the kick happen, saw Kaien's pouty face, and just burst out laughing. The guests were silent again, not sure what to do, but a certain blue-haired beast was grinning.

"Alright, alright, get your ass up," Ichigo said, reaching a hand out to Kaien to help him off the floor. "Let's just have some fun tonight ok everyone?" Ichigo said, addressing the crowd, and with that, the DJ kicked the music back on and everyone resumed dancing and drinking like nothing had happened. Ichigo sighed, looking out at the crowd one more time, his eyes stopped on a pair of ears he'd seen shimmering in and out of a head of cotton candy blue hair. Once the ears vanished, he moved his focus lower to catch the eye of whom ever the ears had belonged to. Orbs in a shade of blue he never knew existed stared back at him. Teal markings under his eyes gave him a wild look. Immediately, Ichigo knew what he was.

With confidence that came out of nowhere, Ichigo walked toward the end of the stage where the blue-haired beast was waiting, a grin forming on his face. Jumping lightly off the stage, Ichigo's face was only about an inch from the strangers.

"You're a panther, aren't you?" Ichigo asked, cocking his head to the side. The so-called panther grinned, showing his sharp canines.

"Good guess. _Panthera pardus_ is the correct term. I come from a family of melanistic leopards. Otherwise known as Panthers." The grin never left the beasts mouth as he spoke.

"I see you've met Grimmjow," Kaien's voice was suddenly in Ichigo's ear. Kaien and Shiro had at some point during that short exchange appeared at Ichigo's side. Shiro was trying desperately to shield his brother from his thoughts. This blue-haired god standing before him was doing things to his body. It seemed they were doing the same things to Ichigo. If this was Ichigo's mate, Shiro would never touch him, even though all he wanted to do was throw him down and bite that well-muscled neck. He had to get his mind off it. Ichigo then provided him with the opportunity.

"Yeah, I saw his ears," Ichigo replied to Kaien's comment.

"You…saw his ears? But he's in human form, he has plain old human ears right now," Kaien said. He was confused.

"He means, he saw the panther for what he was before he could change. When we were up on the stage and everyone was looking at us, he could see who was a vampire and who was a dual because he could see their ears," Shiro explained. Ichigo was still staring into Grimmjow's eyes. There was something about this beast, he was being drawn in, and despite being normally shy, he felt strangely confident.

"For instance, the dual who is walking toward us now, the one with the green face tattoos, he's a bat. His wings are showing," Ichigo said. Now Grimmjow was surprised. As far as he knew, Ichigo's eyes had never left his. He turned his head to the right and sure enough, here was his best friend, Ulquiorra Schiffer, _Desmodus rotundus_, the vampire bat. Shiro now turned his attention to the newcomer. He had thought the panther was drool worthy. The bat was much more so. He had to have him. He needed him. His fangs extended in his mouth, both sets tingling in anticipation.

"Prince Hiyoke, you appear as if you would like to eat me," Ulquiorra stated in a very bland matter of fact voice. Even though it sounded bored, that voice did something to Shiro's body. He let a snarl slip then slapped his hand to his mouth, eyes wide. He couldn't believe what he was thinking. Ichigo was looking at him now, eyes wide in realization.

"Perhaps, Prince Hiyoke, you could escort me to the VIP area," Ulquiorra stated bluntly.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Master Schiffer," Kaien interjected.

"He cannot hurt me. I am a vampire bat, therefore half vampire already. If he over does it, he must simply share his blood with me. There is no risk."

_'You need it that bad, Shiro?'_ Ichigo asked his twin.

_'Oh god, yes. I can't stand it any longer,'_ Shiro replied. His body was vibrating from the strain. He was trying so hard not to pounce on the bat right there.

_'Then take him up on his offer. Maybe you found your mate?'_ Ichigo giggled at the thought. Kaien, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra were all watching the silent exchange not understanding what was going on. Well, Kaien had an idea, but he'd never understand it fully.

"Let's go," Shiro growled as he grabbed the bat by the arm and made his way hastily toward the VIP room.

"Well that was quick. Schiff's been looking for his mate for forever. He never offers his blood. Ever." Grimmjow was slightly surprised. Things were working out for him better than expected. He'd already hit it off with the orange haired prince and they'd barely said anything to each other.

"Well, Ichigo, Prince Grimmjow, I hate to interrupt this, but I think Shinji is signaling for it to be time for you two to show off your dance moves," Kaien said, pointing to the DJ station. Shinji was waving his arms at them, even though they were only about fifteen feet away. Ichigo didn't miss the whole "Prince" thing, but he thought that for now he'd let it go. It was time to dance.

"Names Grimmjow Jaegerjaques by the way," the panther said sticking his hand out to Ichigo for a shake. Ichigo took the extended hand, which now had shimmering claws, and held on, dragging his captive onto the stage and towards Shinji.

"Nice to meet you Grimmjow. Now I just have one question…do you know how to shuffle?" Ichigo laughed at the look on the panther's face.

"Alright! Ichigo, it's 'Pony Pony' time!" Shinji squealed in delight jumping up and down.

"Damn it, Shin! It's 'Call on me' not "Pony Pony', try not to let _everyone_ here know you're a brony," Ichigo replied, ruffling the blondes hair. Of course it fell back into place like nothing had happened.

"With Celestia as my witness, I shall love and tolerate the shit out of everyone!" Shinji replied. Grimmjow laughed. Kid was funny, for a brony.

The DJ kicked on the right tune and Ichigo grabbed onto Shinji and Grimmjow, thinking he'd try something out. Thinking about being in the center of the dance floor, which was now being cleared out by bouncers, Ichigo shut his eyes and suddenly, he, Shinji, and Grimmjow were in the middle of the cleared area. Grimmjow was a little weak in the knees from the relocation, so Ichigo gently pushed him to the side. It was time for him and Shinji to shine.

The part of the song where they were supposed to start dancing came up right when Ichigo was back in the center of the clearing. They had worked on the choreography for this little dance for a while and it was pretty awesome. They turned and kicked and shuffled until they had the crowd clapping in time to the beat.

_'Pooonyyyyyy pony!'_ Ichigo heard in his head. His brother was obviously occupied doing other things, but had enough of a spare thought to tease Ichigo about the dance. _Things must be going well for Shiro_, Ichigo thought to himself.

Once the song was done, the DJ expertly mixed into a new track and the hole that had been created for Ichigo and Shinji filled back up with swaying dancers. Ichigo was having a seriously good time. He hadn't felt this good since before his mom was killed. That thought, however, killed his mood. Remembering what Kaien told him about his mother's killer, he immediately began scanning the room.

"Whoa, what's wrong Ichi," Shinji asked, sensing the shift in Ichigo's mood. Ichigo found what he was looking for. The girl was young, couldn't be more than eighteen, but she had the distinct ears; mountain lion ears.

Grimmjow was still on the sidelines, watching, waiting, like a predator stalking prey. He had no idea what he was about to witness.

* * *

"Would you like me to change, or should I remain as I am?" Ulquiorra asked Shiro as the white haired vampire shut and locked the VIP door.

"I don't want to eat from a bat, I want to eat from you," Shiro responded as he moved with purpose towards the object of his thirst.

"I am more than just a bat. I am a vampire bat. I can remain mostly human but my wings and tail can manifest. Shall I show you?"

Curiosity got the best of Shiro. As much as he was dying to taste the dual in front of him, he wanted to know what he had meant. That's when he really noticed the other man's appearance. Pale, very pale skin covered his body, almost as pale as Shiro's own. Sharp, green eyes gazed right into his very being. Jet-black hair fell softly down to his shoulders. The bat's eyes were the first to change. The sclera changed to a dark green and his irises yellowed out some. He felt as though he was looking into a complicated mirror. The changes were familiar. A sharp, whip like tail sprouted out of the base of the bat's spine, making a snapping noise in the air before settling in a coil on the floor. Then came the wings. Enormous, black leathery wings sprouted right out of Ulquiorra's back, ripping neat holes in the tight fitting black t-shirt he had been wearing. Spread out to full span they took up most of the room. Shiro gaped at the creature before him. This winged demon was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Now he really had to have him.

Using the technique he had first learned, Flash Step Kaien had called it, Shiro appeared an inch in front of his prey. Ulquiorra felt something stirring in his chest but had no time to think upon it. Shiro had grabbed him by the back of his head; fingers laced roughly through his hair and yanked his head to the side. The pale neck was now exposed and Shiro snarled as he bit down, hard, on the soft flesh. Blood immediately pooled in his mouth. Shiro thought Ichigo's blood tasted good. This blood was the nectar of the gods. Dark, rich flavors swirled in a sea of something more intoxicating than the highest proof of alcohol. He never wanted to stop.

Shiro felt Ulquiorra's body twitching in his arms. Reigning himself in slightly, he gently lowered his query to the floor. The soft carpet rubbed Ulquiorra's skin in ways he'd never felt before. He'd never felt compelled to share his blood with anyone, and now, the person who he was offering it to, was making him feel things he couldn't place. His skin felt like it would combust at the slightest touch. His chest was fluttering, like part of him had been empty before, but was now suddenly filled with anxious insects, trying their hardest to get out. His breaths came faster and faster; he knew he'd start hyperventilating if he didn't get a lid on it. Shiro had other ideas.

Completely out of control of his movements, Shiro had released Ulquiorra's hair and slid that hand sensuously to the side of the neck he wasn't now feasting upon. His other free hand was making its way down Ulquiorra's side. As he lay atop the panting bat, he felt his groin stir. Much more strongly than when he and his twin had changed and had that uncomfortable moment. At that very second, he could hear the song that was playing out in the club and was momentarily distracted.

_'Pooonyyyyyy pony!'_ he thought quickly and then moved back to what he was doing. At least now his twin would know he was ok. The bat beneath him made a soft mewling noise and that clinched it. Heat curled around his palms and they began to glow a red-white. Lifting himself up just enough to sneak his free hand in-between their bodies, Shiro hastily undid Ulquiorra's pants. Then, with the heat in his palm, he freed the rigid piece of anatomy he was desperate to touch.

"Uhnn…" Ulquiorra moaned. He knew what was coming. He'd never felt this fire. It unnerved him. His dripping cock was being touched in ways he'd never imagined. The numbing heat coming from Shiro's hand was sending shivers up his spine. Suddenly, without either one knowing how, they were both naked from the waist down. Shiro moved the hand that was on Ulquiorra's neck to place two fingertips on dark lips. Ulquiorra instinctively opened his mouth and sucked and licked until they were dripping in saliva. Once they were deemed wet enough by Shiro, he moved them expertly towards Ulquiorra's ass, skin slightly pink, flushed with heat. Gently rubbing the bat's puckered hole with one finger while still sampling blood from the neck, Shiro was pulling more and more moans and mewls from his pale prey. He slowly slipped one finger inside the waiting entrance and moved it in and out a few times before adding the other, and then another. All the while, his other hand was stroking his very hard cock. As he twisted his fingers, the bat arched his back and moaned loudly. He must have hit something inside him. He'd remember that later.

Shiro couldn't stand it anymore. He could tell his prey was getting close to being tapped out of blood so he released the wound he had inflicted and instead gently suckled on the skin just beneath the bat's ear. The hand that had been moving roughly on his shaft had disappeared for an instant so Shiro could lick it and get it wet. Rubbing the saliva from his hand onto his own throbbing rod, he made sure it was as lubed up as possible before he lined himself up with Ulquiorra's entrance. With legs wrapped around Shiro's waist, Ulquiorra lifted himself into a better position and was slowly penetrated by Shiro. White-hot pain shot up his spine. He loved it. Ulquiorra made a sound no human could have heard and Shiro slowly thrusted in and out. Shiro felt himself get dangerously close to going over the edge. He lifted his head to look at the face of the bat beneath him. The dark green eyes were clouded with lust, but clear in intent. Words weren't needed to know what they both needed.

Several things happened at once. Ulquiorra turned his head to the side, offering the unwounded side of his neck to Shiro. With one final thrust, at the same time as taking a fresh bite of the bat, both of them reached ecstasy. Ulquiorra's orgasm spilled ropes of white cum between their bodies and milked Shiro's orgasm. Filling Ulquiorra's abused hole, Shiro gave one last suck to the neck, then pulled away, sighing. He looked into Ulquiorra's eyes, which were now changing back to their striking green, and gave a little laugh.

"Be right back," Shiro said as he disappeared, still half naked and covered in cum before reappearing half a second later with a bottle of water and some cloths. Ulquiorra just lay on the floor, unable to move while Shiro cleaned himself up, wetting a cloth with the water. Once he deemed himself acceptable and dressed himself, he looked up. Ulquiorra was still sprawled on the floor.

"What's the matter?" Shiro growled. He was in a good mood, why was he cranky all of the sudden? He didn't even have time to process what he'd just done.

"I cannot move at the present moment," Ulquiorra replied, shutting his eyes. Feeling guilty, Shiro cleaned the tired bat up as best as he could. He leaned over the body beneath him, his forearms on either side of Ulquiorra's head.

"What's the matter? Did I hurt you?" Shiro asked again, gentler this time, even though he was steaming on the inside. Ulquiorra opened his eyes and turned his head toward one of the arms at his side.

"No. May I?" He replied, looking pointedly at the arm. Realization hit Shiro like a ton of bricks. He had drunk too much. He brought his own arm up to his mouth and made a small incision with his fangs and then helped the bat sit up. He brought his now bleeding arm to Ulquiorra's mouth and waited.

"Thank you, Hiyoke-sama," Ulquiorra said quietly before gently suckling on the wound. He had barely taken any when he pulled away. Apparently he didn't need all that much to recover.

"Sama huh? I don't know about that….god, what the fuck!" Shiro yelled suddenly, unable to contain his anger anymore.

"What is it Hiyoke-sama?"

"Fuck, just call me Shiro dude," Shiro replied. Suddenly fire raged right through his brain, to his heart and lungs.

"Oh shit. Ichigo!" Shiro exclaimed disappearing from the room in a flash.

"Very interesting," Ulquiorra said quietly, dressing himself. He heard a loud crash from the club's dance floor.

* * *

Shiro appeared just a couple feet from his stressed out twin. Something had set him off, he was…Shiro didn't have a word for it. Upset didn't even cover it. Ichigo's body was being turned into living magma and he couldn't stop it. Shinji and Kaien were at Ichigo's side trying to calm him down, to no avail. Grimmjow was watching from the sideline having no idea what to make of the situation. Ichigo was dancing and laughing and having a good time and then all of a sudden, like flicking a switch, he turned into a bomb.

Shiro tried to make sense of his twin's thought. They were garbled messes of different things, and he couldn't pin point any thing that should have made him this angry. Then he saw it. Just a flicker, but it was there. Somewhere in the club was a girl with mountain lion ears. Now it made sense.

Mustering up all the force he could after his ordeal with Ulquiorra, Shiro got as close to Ichigo as he dared.

**_'Ichigo! It's ok! Calm down, please!_**' Shiro yelled desperately in his head to his twin. Ichigo was completely unresponsive, lost in self torment and dispair.

Shiro was completely at the mercy of his brother's emotions. Balls of light grew at his palms. There was no controlling it. Horrified, Shiro watched as they grew to an alarming size. _'Ichigo, please…_' he whispered in one final attempt to control his brother, and therefore himself.

Shiro felt it. Ichigo snapped, and all control was lost. Shiro felt it, and couldn't hold on anymore.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Kaien yelled from somewhere as the glowing red white orbs were released into the air. One hit the stage and obliterated the DJ station and the other hit the bar, igniting the alcohol. The club's sprinkler system kicked on and water fell on all the club goers. This seemed to have upset Ichigo even more.

Lifting his head back so he was looking directly up at the offending ceiling, he opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar. His eyes shifted from honey brown to golden yellow, sclera turning black, just like Shiro's. He let loose another roar, this one almost pained, desperate, tortured. With a sickening wet, tearing sound, white scales erupted out of his skin, covering his body in a bone like armor. Claws extended out of his fingers, his fangs grew abnormally long and a tail sprouted its way out of his back.

While the other frightened and stunned partygoers were making their way toward the emergency exits, Kaien, Shinji, Grimmjow, and now Ulquiorra just watched in horror as the twins bodies shifted and changed into unrecognizable beings.

Out of nowhere, Rukia and Toushiro appeared.

"Kaien-dono! We have to help them!" Rukia yelled. Her stepbrother was already in the process of changing into his other form. What good an arctic fox would do against these beasts, he had no idea, but he had to do something.

Ichigo had stopped howling and was now scraping away at the bony armor covering his body with the claws that had formed. Shiro was simply on the floor writhing in pain as the same bony armor tried to take over his body. Toushiro, now a fox, pounced on Shiro, scratching at the armor with his tiny paws. No one else could do anything but watch. Shinji was sobbing, Kaien staring in disbelief. Ulquiorra torn between emotions he couldn't describe.

Grimmjow had had enough of not doing anything. Following Toushiro's lead, he ripped off his shirt and shifted into his other form.

Black fur erupted out of his skin; four-inch claws extended from newly formed paws. Long tail swished and whipped behind his long feline body that was now on all fours. Ears at the top of a very large head twitched, assessing the threat level. The only thing not changed was those blue eyes with the teal markings underneath that marked him for what he was.

With a loud snarl, he coiled his muscles and sprang at Ichigo's warped body, hitting him square in the chest with enormous paws. Ichigo was knocked to the ground from the force of the collision. This seemed to make Ichigo even angrier. He grabbed onto Grimmjow's panther body and brought it to his mouth. Taking a rather large bite out of the panther's neck, Ichigo growled. With a huff and a yowl, Grimmjow went limp. He wasn't badly injured, and he didn't know why, but he knew it would be his better option rather than fighting.

That got Ichigo's attention. He found himself trapped in his own mind. He could hear Shiro screaming in agony, and could feel the warm body in his grasp. His eyes cleared first, and at the sight of the seemingly unconscious panther, his armor shattered sending chunks of bone flying in all directions. Collapsing on his knees, still holding onto Grimmjow's large panther body as best as he could, he simply sat and cried.

Shiro, now able to control his body shook off the bony armor, gave Toushiro a thank you scratch behind the ears, and crawled over to his twin. Putting his arm around Ichigo, Shiro just held his brother. There was nothing he could say. Ichigo set Grimmjow's limp body down on the club floor and flash stepped himself and his twin back to their apartment. I'm a monster, he thought. I never should have been born.

* * *

Back at the club, Kaien was shaken. He hadn't realized how hard it would be for the twins. Having serious power because they were royal-born was one thing, but having no control over it because of the separation of souls was just not making it any easier. This would take time to fix. They had to be careful.

Grimmjow picked himself up off the floor and ruffeled his fur. He shifted back to human and Ulquiorra gave him a hand to get on his feet. Putting a hand to his neck, he checked it for blood.

"You ok Grimmjow?" Kaien asked, holding onto a still bawling Shinji.

"Not a scratch. Hoped he'd bite me and that'd be it, but guess he freaked when I played possum," Grimmjow replied, seeing his clean hand. He'd had worse than that before. He was a big cat after all.

"What about you Ulquiorra?" Kaien inquired of the bat.

"I am fine. Hiyoke-sama is my mate. I am sure of it," Ulquiorra replied, his tone almost bored.

"Well, Ichigo's gonna be hard to convince, Grimmjow. Hope you're in it for the long haul."

"I'm intrigued. I wanna see that power once it's harnessed." Grimmjow replied, an eager glint in his eyes.

"Kaien-dono, I don't think this is such a good idea. Nii-sama won't like this," Rukia interrupted. Her brother, Byakuya was on the noble council, and they were still debating on whether or not to let Ichigo and Hiyoke live. No one that dangerous should have that much power was their reasoning.

"As king, I am perfectly within my right to allow Grimmjow to try to help Ichigo harness his power. I doubt the council could really do anything to them anyway," Kaien replied.

Either way, they all had a long road ahead of them. Nothing was ever easy.

* * *

_This chapter has been slightly edited from it's original version. _


	7. untitled

GROAN! Author's Note! BOOOOOOO! yeah i know. here's the deal. I'm a slow writer in case you haven't guessed. I edited the last chapter a tiny bit, nothing really changed too drastically except at the very end. I know you want an update. It's coming. No promises when, but it's coming. I've been running it through my head and all that's left to do is sit down and type. BUT, as much as I'd like to just spend all my free time at my computer writing smut drama, I can't. I do have a job, and I'm planning my wedding. Well jeez, Nox, how long could that possibly take? Well, you see, this is my second wedding. Now I planned the first one, but never went through with it. Self esteem issues you see. Over it now, older, wiser, all that. But yeah, I want to do it right. Anyways, I know you guys don't give two fucks about my personal life and just want me to stop stalling, but i'm human too.

in conclusion, just want to let you guys know how much i appreciate you sticking around. I read every review and they keep me focused. Hope i see one from all y'all after the next chapter is published.

Thanks guys!

~Nox


	8. Chapter 6

In the corner of the room, gold on midnight eyes moved slowly left to right, right to left, watching, waiting, thinking, listening.

"What the fuck was that?" Shiro asked his pacing twin after a time. Ichigo hadn't stood still since he flash stepped them home. He just kept walking back and forth, back and forth across their living room.

'_No idea,'_ Ichigo replied, though not out loud. He was deep inside his own head, trying to understand. He could feel his skin tingling, ready to leap into action, though for what, he didn't know. Shiro was not amused.

In the blink of an eye, a small, shining orb was launched from a white hand. Shiro didn't know why he did it, but he immediately regretted it. Ichigo caught it with his creamy hand right before it hit him square in the face. Smashing the orb in his fist, he launched himself at his twin with claws bared, both sets of fangs extended. Shiro thought he was about to have his throat ripped out, but instead Ichigo landed a solid punch, right in the jaw.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ichigo calmly asked as he slowly backed away from his cornered brother, watching as a cut from his knuckle closed itself.

"Well what tha fuck do ya want me ta do, Ichi? Yer fuckin' pacin' is drivin' me insane! Back and forth, for the last twenty minutes. I can't even hear what yer thinkin'!" Shiro spoke just as calmly, but his voice had that layered effect. He was stressed out. His skin went from tingling to sizzling. "Ichigo, what the hell happened? Talk to me…_please_." The please was in his head, dripping with concern.

Eying his other half, Ichigo seemed to consider it. After a short staring contest, a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"I don't know. She was just there. She's too young, I know, but I couldn't register that. All I could focus on were those damned ears. Then I thought of Mom. I couldn't handle it I guess. What was she doing there? She's clearly underage, no reason for her to be at a party like that…" Ichigo's sentence drifted off. He seemed fixated on that girl.

"Ichi, if she's really as old as you think, there's no way she could be responsible for what happened. She'd have been a little kid. Besides, you heard Kaien. He invited EVERYONE. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few other kids there."

"I guess you're right…" Ichigo responded. His thoughts calming, becoming less jumbled so Shiro was able to listen in again, skin a mild tingle now. Then Ichigo remembered what he did.

"Wait! What happened to the panther? I didn't hurt him did I?" he asked, sounding desperate again.

'_I don't know. You got us out of there before we could find out. I'm sure he's fine.'_ Shiro replied, trying to pour calmness over their connection.

"We can find out later. Right now, we have other things to worry about." Shiro said speaking out loud, but he couldn't hide the awkwardness and slight, misplaced embarrassment leaking through the psychic link.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo inquired, cocking his head to the side, regarding his brother with confusion, then, sudden realization. "Ohhhhhh…you and the bat."

"Yeah, me and the fucking bat."

* * *

Grimmjow decided that after the excitement at the party, he could use a good walk. He sent the rest of his group back to the compound in the limo. Ulquiorra had been about to climb in as well when the scruff of his neck was grabbed.

"Not you buddy, you're coming with me," Grimmjow laughed.

"If I must," was the bat's response.

They walked in silence for a few blocks when Grimmjow could no longer contain his curiosity.

"So how'd it go?" Grimmjow asked, giving Ulquiorra a friendly punch in the shoulder.

"One does not kiss and tell, Grimmjow. Show some couth please," the pale bat replied.

"Oh come on, you got laid. I can smell him all over you. Was he gentle with you? No, I bet he was rough. I bet he made you moan like a whore."

Ulquiorra stopped walking and hard green eyes narrowed.

"I knew it! Come on, give me the details man!" Grimmjow seemed like he wanted to just make fun of his friend, but really he was curious. He wanted to know what Shiro was like in bed. If he knew what Shiro was like, he could then try to gauge what Ichigo would be like. The bite he had been given hadn't turned him off to the orange-haired prince in the slightest. If anything, it just made Grimmjow want him more. He wanted that mouth biting him over and over again. On his neck, inside his arms…the inside of his thigh…

Ulquiorra knew what Grimmjow was doing. He didn't appreciate it.

"Grimmjow, I'm not going to tell you what happened other than that we mated. The details are my business. Respect that. Now let's go home."

"Fine. Pussy"

* * *

"Don't you have people who can take care of this mess?" Shinji whined, broom in one hand, the other on his cocked hip.

"Yes, but since it was my offspring who made the mess, I feel obligated to clean it up," Kaien replied sullenly.

"You're sure weird for being royalty and all. Aren't you supposed to be king or something?"

"Yes, but I hate abusing power. I'm not beloved by both the vampire and dual community because I order people around and rule with an iron fist. I try to be a little bit more humble than that. Besides, I'm lucky I came into this position. My creator needed an heir. Rather than trying for a born vampire child, he decided to make one. Ichigo and Shiro are blood heirs to the throne. Even if I made a thousand new vampires, none would be able to contest their position. It's all very complicated," Kaien explained with a wave of his hand. "Get back to work. We need to finish up and then go see how the boys are doing."

With an annoyed groan, Shinji got back to sweeping.

A few more moments passed in silence when the back door swung open. A tall, pale vampire with long, dark hair and gunmetal eyes walked in regally. His expensive suit fluttering as he moved.

"I heard from my dear sister that you've had a little…set back tonight," the vampire stated, examining his fingernails, acting as if bored. There was no inflection in his tone. He always spoke like that. No one ever knew what he was thinking or feeling.

"Sir Byakuya," Kaien greeted, standing up straight and brushing the dust off his jeans. "What happened tonight is no concern of yours. Please do not worry yourself."

"I doubt the council will see your point of view on this your Highness. Your heirs put several high-ranking vampires and duals in danger this evening. They're young, dangerous, and uncontrollable."

"How dare you!" Shinji yelled, dropping his broom and making to pounce on the noble. Kaien put an arm out and Shinji stopped dead in his tracks.

"It's ok, Shinji. The council can do nothing. Sir Byakuya is just blowing smoke," Kaien spoke, glaring daggers at the noble.

"We shall see about that Kaien. We shall see." And with that, Byakuya left the same way he came in, a flurry of cherry blossoms left in his wake.

"What a fucking douche nozzle! Look at the mess he left behind! Who the fuck is gonna clean up that shit?" Shinji griped indignantly.

"Shinji, let it go. They'll disappear soon enough," Kaien reprimanded, going back to his sweeping. Sure enough, the cherry blossoms dissolved into nothing.

"Well what's his problem with Ichigo and Shiro anyway? Rukia seemed worried that he was gonna throw a shit fit earlier, and lo and behold, he throws a fucking shit fit."

"He's a little butthurt. Had my creator not made me, he would be the king right now. He comes from a very wealthy line of vampires. All made. He and his wife were to rule after my creator. Then I was created and took that spot. Then his wife Hisane, who was a dual, died. He never turned her. Her dying wish was that he take in her sister as his own. That's how Rukia became a Kuchiki."

"That explains a lot…well whatever, can we please just fuckin' leave this mess for tomorrow? We need to go see them." Shinji decided enough was enough. He could care less what state the club was in, he had more important things to worry about. Like what happened to his best friends.

"Sure. Give me a second," Kaien sighed. Shinji waited and watched, wondering what the hell Kaien was waiting for when it happened. A soft, sweet breeze swirled through the club, picking up all the dust, pieces of plaster and broken glass, and then dropped it into a near by trash can.

"Why…THE FUCK…didn't you just do that before? We wasted a shit ton of time!" Shinji yelled, getting really upset with his roommate now.

"I thought we'd give the boys time to calm down before we visited. I don't fancy losing my head just yet, thanks," Kaien replied dusting off his hands. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

"Is he your mate?" Ichigo asked bluntly.

"I don't fuckin' know! I was all hot and bothered by that panther and then there he was and I just snapped!" Shiro replied, remembering the feeling he had in his gut when he laid eyes on Ulquiorra.

"So, did he change before you fucked him?" Ichigo was enjoying seeing his twin all flustered.

"No! He fuckin', I dunno, he can like half-change. He fuckin' changed just enough to have his fuckin' wings and his fuckin' tail out. It was hot as hell, Ichi, like, I don't even…ugh, just thinking about it…"Shiro tried to explain. Recalling the images was doing things to his body. It wasn't as if he was gay, far from it, but he did know how to appreciate the male form just as easily as the female one.

"Down boy, I don't need the residuals over here," Ichigo chuckled before taking a sip of his blood-spiked coffee. It wasn't really doing the trick, but he hated to ask Shiro for a drink, especially since Shiro just had his first sexual experience as a full-fledged vampire. That ranked way higher on his list of things to worry about than his little freak out, at least to him. Shiro on the other hand was assessing the situation. He was recounting the sex in as much detail as he could, just to distract his twin.

Feeling the lack of satisfaction from the blood in the coffee, Shiro decided to take matters into his own hands.

"_Come on Ichi, I need a shower. Finish your drink and come on,"_ Shiro thought.

"_I'm good, you go ahead,"_ Ichigo thought back as Shiro walked away and into the bathroom. They'd showered together since they were kids, but after the incident when they changed, and then Shiro having sex with a dual, he was a little wary about the situation. He didn't want to push any boundaries again. He certainly did not want to have sex with his twin. That was definitely over his line and he did NOT think that was ok.

"_Oi! Fuck you!"_ Shiro replied with an internal snarl, already stripped down. _"I'm not leaving you alone for a minute right now. You get your ass in here!"_

With a roll of his eyes, Ichigo chugged the rest of his gross coffee, put the cup on the side table next to the couch and got up, stripping off his shirt as he went. Once in the bathroom and completely naked, Ichigo turned on the water for the bath. He could use a good soak after the shower. It would be plenty full by the time they were clean. Ichigo then opened the shower door and gasped quietly at what he saw. Shiro was under the spray with his back to Ichigo. His long, white hair was running down his pale skin, soaking wet. Ichigo couldn't help but think it was beautiful. Ichigo wished for moment that his hair had grown that long.

"_Try washing it, then brushing it bro, it fuckin' sucks,"_ Shiro inwardly chuckled. He'd only had the long hair for a day, but already it was getting on his last nerve. _"I'm gonna cut it."_

"_The fuck you will!" _Ichigo replied. He wasn't about to let his twin ruin his hair. Shiro's body seemed to think that was part of his peak physical form, he better get used to it.

After the shower, Ichigo, wrapped in only a towel, watched in awe as his brother painstakingly brushed through all the snarls and snags the shampoo had put in his hair. It was not a quick chore by any means.

"Looks like I'm gonna be spending a fortune on conditioner. Fuck," Shiro swore, running his fingers through his hair, fingers lingering on the orange streak. "Not in the mood for a bath. I'm gonna be out in the living room, I'm sure Kaien will be by any time to check up on us, you gonna be ok?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, I won't be long," Ichigo replied, dropping his towel and stepping into the steaming tub. Satisfied that his brother would be ok on his own for a bit, Shiro stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Ichigo sighed in relief. He had something he wanted to try that he was hiding from Shiro. He knew what Shiro had been doing, trying to distract him from his thirst, it worked for a while, but it couldn't be held back for long. Nothing could satisfy it, except maybe devouring his twin, but he wasn't about to do that. He was still reeling from the incident at the club. The only way to hide how he truly felt, hide the inner turmoil, was to somehow block Shiro. So, resting in the tub, he sunk in until only his eyes were above the water line. He didn't need to breathe, so he wasn't in danger of drowning.

Once he was comfortable, Ichigo shut his eyes and pictured the place he was in after the change, the sideways world. It didn't take long. Once inside, he relaxed a little further. He could still feel what Shiro was thinking and feeling, though it was slightly more distant than before. His idea was simple. All he had to do was picture Shiro on one of the other buildings. Sure enough, as soon as he thought of it, there Shiro was. It wasn't really Shiro, more like a ghostly image of him. The next step was harder. He wasn't sure of the consequences for this, but he needed to have his head to himself for a while. He knew that any moment he would lose it, and Shiro would suffer for it.

Concentrating hard, Ichigo imagined a wall, brick by brick, being placed between him and the Shiro in his mind. The wall then materialized into place. Slowly at first, then picked up the pace until it was a solid structure blocking him from his twin. He reached out, trying to see if he could fell Shiro at all. He couldn't. Good. Now he had to get back to the real world. Unsure of how to do so, he did what Shiro did. He ran at the edge of the building, closes his eyes, and jumped...only he never hit the ground, and he didn't come to in his bathroom. He just kept falling until there he was, back on the same skyscraper he was on before he jumped. He did a full turn, looking at his surroundings. There was the wall he built: solid, unbreakable. Ichigo began to realize his error. Panic set in, how was he supposed to get out? Shiro was blocked.

"Shit."

* * *

Shiro closed the door to the bathroom and walked naked to their bedroom. After getting dressed, he went into the kitchen and downed a cold blood bag before moving back into the living room. He wanted to catch up on some reading. He felt Ichigo relax and was grateful. He couldn't handle much more tension. Opening his book, he found where he left off and started reading. He flipped a couple pages before he realized that he didn't actually read any of the words in front of him. Groaning, he turned back to where he started and tried again. Sure enough, it happened again. Frustrated, he figured maybe Ichigo was distracting him, but he just hadn't noticed. So he reached out.

He felt…nothing.

"_Ichigo?"_ Shiro called over the bond.

Silence.

"_ICHIGO?"_

Silence.

Standing up off the couch, he looked towards the bathroom.

"Ichigo?" he called out loud.

Again, he was met with silence.

Frightened, he walked into the bathroom and gasped at what he saw. Ichigo's body was fully submerged in the water. Eyes open and staring blankly at the ceiling.

In a flash, clothes on and everything, Shiro was in that tub, pulling Ichigo out. He laid his twin on the floor and shook him by the shoulders. Nothing. Ichigo's skin felt hot. Too hot.

At that moment, there was a knock on the front door. Shiro ignored it. He continued to try to wake his brother up. His methods more panicked now.

"What the fuck did you do, you bastard!" He gave Ichigo a huge slap to the face, still nothing. He heard the front door being opened.

"Ichigo? Shiro?" He heard Kaien's voice calling from the entryway. He got up, soaking wet and flashed out to him and Shinji.

"Something's wrong with Ichigo, he was taking a bath, and then I couldn't feel him. He was under the water, I can't feel him!" Shiro explained before flashing back into the bathroom.

"GOD DAMMIT ICHIGO WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Kaien and Shinji heard Shiro yell from the bathroom.

"Stay here!" Kaien told Shinji as he rushed into the bathroom Shiro was straddling his naked brother and shaking him by the shoulders. Suddenly, Shiro pulled his hands away and hissed.

"What the fuck?" He choked out while looking at his hands. Burn blisters were erupting out of his palms. Now he was terrified. This could only mean one thing. Ichigo was burning, and he could do fuck all about it. White orbs of light formed over the burns.

"Shit!" Kaien cursed. "Shinji! Get in here!" Then blonde came storming in at the command.

"What…holy fucking shit!" Shinji yelled.

"Look, take my cell phone, call Grimmjow. Tell him he needs to get here ASAP, and to bring his bat friend. Text him the address and tell him it's extremely urgent!"

Shinji's frantic call to the panther could be heard in the background.

"Kaien! What do I do?" Shiro panicked as more blisters formed on his wrists, then his forearms.

"Go to his inner world, bring him back out. Maybe he's stuck and can't get out himself. Go. Now!"

With that, Shiro closed his eyes and in no time at all, passed out on top of his prone brother.

* * *

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a bawling Shinji let the newcomers in and led them to the bathroom.

"Kaien, what's the big urgent….thing…?" Grimmjow asked, hesitating as he realized what he was seeing. Both Ichigo and his twin were passed out, Shiro sprawled on top, clothing still soaking wet on top of a naked, wide eyed Ichigo.

"Something happened, not sure what, but Shiro's trying to fix it," Kaien replied. He then quickly and briefly explained to Grimmjow and Ulquiorra about inner worlds and how born vampires have them and what he hoped Shiro was doing. Grimmjow nodded as if he understood (he didn't), and squatted down next to Kaien.

Looking back at the unconscious boys, he saw something that sent shivers down his spine. Shiro's knuckles turned purple, then started to bleed, then a few fingers just broke out of nowhere.

"What the fuck is happening in there?" Grimmjow asked, looking to Kaien for answers, Shinji sitting on the closed toilet, bawling, Ulquiorra standing just outside the bathroom, worrying one of his fingernails with his teeth.

The inner world was not the same as before. Shiro noticed that the previously blue sky was now dark grey and threatening. He heard thunder off in the distance. He couldn't see Ichigo anywhere.

"ICHIGO!" he yelled, trying to find his brother. His voice just echoed, ominously. He turned around.

There, before him was a massive brick wall that went as high as he could see. Stomach turning, he knew Ichigo must be on the other side. That's why he couldn't feel or hear him. That wall had to go. Concentrating, Shiro tried to dismantle it. Nothing happened. It stood firm. Looking down at his hands, blisters still present, even in this world, he realized that he only chance he had of breaking the wall down was to take it down himself. He thought about his power, felt it rising, and launched a large orb of white light at the wall.

The impact shook the whole building that he was standing on. Waiting for the dust from the blast to clear, he loaded up another one. Once he could see the wall again, the light in his hand fizzled out. The previous shot had done nothing to the wall. It stood firm.

Shiro let out a feral growl.

"Shit..shit…Ichigo…SHIT!" he scremed, launching himself at the wall. He didn't know what to do. He could feel more blisters forming from an unseen burning on his body. They were on his entire arms and were creeping over his shoulders now. If he couldn't feel Ichigo, but he could feel the effects of burning, Ichigo must be completely aflame.

He looked at his hands. A ray of hope. There was brick dust covering his blisters. He looked back at the wall. Small bits were loose and crumbling.

Looking down at his hands once more, Shiro hardened his resolve and just started punching the wall. Slowly, but surely, pieces of brick shattered and evaporated. It was slow going, but after what seemed like hours, Shiro had made a hole large enough for him to crawl through. Being careful of his now broken and bloody hands, Shiro squirmed through and landed with a grunt on the next building. He got to his feet as fast as he could and looked around, desperately hoping to find his brother.

Off in the distance, there was a fire.

Shiro flashed to it. The flames were white hot. Shiro screamed. He saw what was in the center of those flames, his twin, collapsed, skin turning black in the fire. He could now feel his twin, unable to name the emotions roiling off the charred body before him.

The storm clouds opened up at that moment. Shiro looked up. He felt relief for a moment, hoping the rain would put out the flames. Then he felt the drops on his skin. It wasn't raining water. It was raining acid.

Screaming, Shiro did the only thing he could think of. He ran right into the flames, and grabbed his brother, trying to shake him awake, all the while flames licking his skin. Ichigo remained still. Burning silently. Shiro screamed in frustration. He felt something cold form in his hand. When he looked, he saw a gleaming sword, pure white. He remembered what Shinji told them about his change…then ran the sword right through his brother's heart.

* * *

"Kaien, what's happening?" Shinji asked from his perch on the toilet.

"I have no idea, Shinji, your guess is as good as mine…oh god…"Kaien replied. As he was speaking, Ichigo's skin was slowly turning black. It looked like it was being charbroiled. Kaien knew what was next. Ichigo would dissolve into ash, Shiro would surely follow, given the state of his blistering skin. He was going to lose his sons. He covered his mouth, trying to keep in a choking sob.

The two vampires and the two duals waited silently for what felt like a millennia, but in reality was only about five minutes before Grimmjow spoke up.

"Look, the pale one is turning black now too….fucking shit!" Grimmjow yelled as Ichigo woke with a start, his chest gushing blood from an unseen wound, gasping for air, going into a seizure. Shiro woke up next with a gasp and a shudder.

"Shiro, are you ok?" Kaien fussed over the pale twin as he sat up, ignoring the pain in his skin.

"Ichigo, he needs blood. Lots of it," Shiro replied. Shiro bit his blistered wrist and all but shoved it in Ichigo's mouth. Ichigo's reaction was instantaneous. Seizing no more and growling, he greedily sucked on his brother's arm, Shiro growing weaker with every drag, Ichigo was draining him. In his current state, he needed blood as well to heal, but Ichigo was going to take it all. Kaien and Shinji were useless. They were both just watching Shiro die and could do nothing. They were too stunned to even begin to think of what to do.

To say Grimmjow was unpleased by the whole situation was a major understatement. Half sickened by the simpering vampire's reactions, he took charge.

"The hell with this. Ulquiorra, get in here and get ready, Shiro's gonna need you! I'm going to let Ichigo feed from me," Grimmjow growled as Ulquiorra quickly rushed to Shiro's side. "As soon as Shiro is free, give him your blood. On three. One…two…three!"

Grimmjow ripped Shiro's abused arm out of Ichigo's mouth and before Ichigo could even get a growl in, Grimmjow replaced it with his own newly gashed arm. Ichigo purred and took what was offered, relishing in the reviving power of the offered blood.

Ulquiorra was ready. Shiro was out of it; barely conscious, his skin black and flaking. Shinji gave a sharp cry, terrified that he was witnessing the death of his best friends. Ulquiorra wasn't having that.

"You, trash, are not allowed to die on me," He spoke as he cut a long gash on his neck and hauled Shiro's burned body up into his lap to access it. When the bat's blood hit Shiro's tongue, pure ecstasy. Shiro reached up with a charred hand and grabbed his prey by the hair and yanked the bat's head to the side so he had a better grip with his fangs. Ulquiorra took every pain in stride.

Much to Kaien and Shinji's relief, it was working. The twins' skin was returning to its normal cream and snow. The wound in Ichigo's chest closed and healed, Shiro's broken hands mended with sickening pops.

After another minute of loud, wet, sucking noises, the twins were more themselves and were aware of what was happening. In unison, they each gave their captives a final drag of blood, then pulled away.

The wall Ichigo had built fell. His twin's emotions came rushing back to him like a tidal wave. Anger. Guilt. Blind rage. These were coming through so strongly that hec could taste them. Ichigo knew that however mad Shiro was though, he'd wait until they were alone before he let them loose. After all, Shiro was in complete control of his own emotions, it was only when Ichigo's got mixed in that he had a problem. Right now, all Ichigo could feel of his own was crushing guilt. Then he got a spark of something else from his twin.

"Kaien, Shinji, get out." Shiro spoke, his voice watery and distorted. Kaien and Shinji started to protest, not wanting to leave, still worried sick, but with one look, Shiro had them all but running out the door.

"Panther boy, you ok?" Shiro asked Grimmjow with a look that said don't say anything other than a yes or a no.

"Yes," Grimmjow responded barely glancing at Shiro. His full attention was on Ichigo who was looking him right in the eye.

"Good. You deal with him for right now. I've got business with the bat." And with that, Shiro stood up, held his hand out to Ulquiorra and helped him up. Shiro had taken a lot of blood, but unlike vampires, duals wouldn't die of blood loss. Shiro then disappeared, taking the bat with him. He'd deal with Ichigo later.

* * *

Ichigo kept staring at Grimmjow. He couldn't believe what he'd almost done to his brother, and then this crazy panther had saved him from himself.

"Grimmjow…I…"He started, not caring that he was still completely naked.

"Stop. Don't. I did what I had to do," Grimmjow stated. He was feeling elated. Given the circumstance that probably wasn't something he should be feeling, but he couldn't help it. Ichigo drinking from him, without abandon, was the hottest thing he'd ever experienced. Every drag that Ichigo took while feeding when straight to his groin. He was ever grateful that he had mastered the art of diffusing a boner because otherwise he'd be rock hard right now.

Far more gently than he'd ever done anything before, Grimmjow reached out a hand and threaded his fingers through Ichigo's wet locks. His eyes never left Ichigo's. It was like there were magnets, being pulled together and having no choice in the matter.

"You're so beautiful…"Ichigo whispered, leaning in, slowly, eyes fluttering closed. Grimmjow met him half way, their lips gently touching in a soft kiss.

Ichigo thought that maybe what he was feeling was from his brother, after all, he fully expected Shiro to be drilling the bat into their mattress right about now. He reached out with the bond and felt his twin. Surprisingly, Shiro was sound asleep.

Letting off a contented sigh, he pulled back from the panther. Much like his twin, he stood up and offered a helping hand to Grimmjow. Once they were both standing, they walked out of the bathroom.

"Come on, I'm tired and I bet you could use a cat nap," Ichigo whispered, pulling Grimmjow to the bedroom.

"Fuck it, yeah, I'm assed," Grimmjow replied weakly, not at all up to being the snarky bastard he normally would have been if someone said that to him.

Once in the bedroom, Ichigo led Grimmjow over to the bed, which already had two occupants, but Ichigo didn't care. At least Shiro had taken the time to dry off and change before crawling in.

"Stay." Ichigo commanded. He then went and put on some dry sleep pants, no underwear, and then walked back to the bed.

Ichigo lifted up the covers and crawled in next to his twin who was wrapped protectively around a snoozing Ulquiorra. Grimmjow stripped down to his boxers and lay down next to Ichigo. The bed was crowded, but it was warm, and they were all dead tired.

Just before he fell asleep, Ichigo vowed to himself to never try to hide what he was feeling from his brother ever again. He nearly killed himself and Shiro. That was unacceptable. Never again.

With that final thought, he curled into Grimmjow's side and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Kaien and Shinji returned to their shared apartment, stunned, relieved, exhausted. This whole twin business and not knowing what could happen was going to be the death of them.

As Shinji went to his room, Kaien went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of scotch. As he was downing it in one go, he heard a slide and a thump. Shinji.

Shinji had slid down the wall in the bedrooms hallway, just outside Kaien's door. Already in his pajamas, he was slumped in a ball on the floor with his knees up to his chest, arms around his legs, head leaning back against the wall, silent tears flowing down his pale cheeks.

"Shinji…"Kaien started but was interrupted.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Please?" Shinji asked quiet as a mouse, his out of character behavior somewhat worrying to Kaien as he thought about the question for a moment. The poor boy thought he was losing his best friends and then was rudely kicked out before he could process and make sure they were okay. He'd been through a lot tonight. When Kaien thought about it more, hell, he'd almost lost his sons. He realized he didn't want to be alone tonight either.

"Sure. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and we'll go to sleep." Kaien then helped Shinji to his feet and steered him to the bathroom to wash the tears off his face.

Once that task was finished, Kaien used his power to wash a cool, fresh breeze through the room, trying to help calm Shinji down. Shinji closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to take in as much of the soothing scent as possible. Satisfied that Shinji was relaxed, Kaien led him out of the bathroom and into his own bedroom and let Shinji crawl into the large bed while he went to change into sleep clothes.

Once Kaien was redressed, he crawled into the opposite side of the bed, laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. The silence seemed to stretch out forever.

Shinji, who was lying down on his side with his back toward Kaien, rolled over and faced the vampire king.

"Can I?" the blonde asked meekly. Kaien knew what he was asking, and wanted to say no, but the desperate, pleading look in Shinji's eyes shook him to his core.

"Yes," He replied breathily. Shinji scooted over so that he was settled up against Kaien's right side, propped up on his left elbow, with is right arm wrapped around the older vampire's torso.

Shinji hesitantly leaned in to the crook of Kaien's neck, then with a long drawn out sniff, and a lick with his tongue, Shinji, ever so gently, settled his fangs into the older vampires neck.

Kaien let out a gasp, eye's widening, then settling back to a more relaxed state; he wasn't prepared for gentleness. Shinji was never gentle. He was always rough and grating. With a quiet sigh, Kaien's thoughts became a jumble the more he let Shinji suck. This was new. His body was reacting to the bite. He was no longer in control of himself. His hands rubbed gentle circles into the blonde's back, soothing. Shinji pulled away from the offered neck and licked the remaining drops of blood clean.

"Thank you," Shinji whispered timidly in Kaien's ear. As he was about to pull away, strong arms held him in place.

"You gonna return the favor?" Kaien asked, his voice a little raspy.

Shinji sat up a little and looked Kaien in the eye. Kaien had never asked to drink from Shinji before. This was a first. Seeing that the royal was serious, he blinked slowly and nodded his head, yes.

In a move that surprised both Shinji and himself, Kaien flipped them over so that Shinji was pinned beneath him. Holding himself up over the blonde on his forearms, Kaien lifted one hand and gently ran it through the gold locks. As he did so, Shinji leaned his head to one side, offering his neck.

A wave of desire that Kaien hadn't felt in a long time rushed over him. With a moan, Kaien tore into Shinji's neck. He wasn't gentle at all.

Shinji gasped as the vampire's teeth ripped into his skin. He'd never been fed on before. The sensation was completely new. It hurt, quite a bit actually, but Kaien soothed the pain, licking and kissing the puncture marks before going in for another deep drag. Shinji couldn't help himself. His hands went straight to the body above him, stroking, feeling, discovering. As Kaien drank, he familiarized himself with every muscle, every patch of skin he could reach.

One pale hand slipped its way into Kaien's sleep pants, finding a rock hard cock just waiting to be touched. He hesitated at first, but when he realized that Kaien wasn't stopping him, so he wrapped his slim fingers around the pulsing member and gave an experimental tug. The vampire above him hissed, but it wasn't a warning.

"Don't stop," Kaien growled against Shinji's neck. Shinji obliged and gave another tug, a little harder than the first.

Kaien pulled away from Shinji's neck completely. He had his fill, but now his body required something else entirely. He'd regret it in the morning, but right now he didn't give a damn. He may have been married to a woman, but he still knew how to handle a man.

"Pants. Off. Now." He growled. He got out of the bed momentarily, stripping off his own pants as he went, digging in the closet for something he hadn't used in a long time. When he came back to the bed, he set the item on the nightstand and crawled, slowly, back into position over the now naked blonde.

Leaning down, most of his weight still on his forearms, Kaien brought his lips to meet Shinji's. The familiar emotions that were involved with sex were rushing back to him. He hadn't been with anyone since his wife died. Shinji, somehow, brought it all back.

The kisses were gentle with closed mouths at first, getting a feel for each other, then Kaien sucked Shinji's bottom lip into his mouth and lightly bit it with his extended fangs. Shinji gasped, giving Kaien the opportunity to explore his open mouth, taking in the small amount of blood from the bite. Everything was slow and gentle, but both vampires were pulled so taut either one of them could explode at any time. Tongues explored, grappled, and then explored some more. Shinji had to pull away. Their hearts, beating hard, having never stopped again after feeding, was getting overwhelming. Shinji needed air if his heart insisted on keeping up that pace.

"Kaien…"He spoke breathily.

"I know," Kaien replied. He started kissing his way down Shinji's torso, stopping once at the nipples, nibbling and sucking them into little hard peaks, gently raking his fingernails down the blonde's sides as he went. He then made his way down to Shinji's now fully hard cock and gave it a lazy lick from base to tip, making Shinji fist the sheets and arch his back into the bed, mouth open, but no sound coming out. Kaien chuckled at the reaction.

"See that lube on the night stand, pour some on my fingers," Kaien instructed as he held out the three fingers of his right hand. Shinji obliged, breath hitching as he realized what was about to happen. He draped his legs over Kaien's shoulders.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," Kaien said, looking Shinji in the eye before taking the entire member before him in his mouth.

"mmmhhhh," was all Shinji could vocalize at this point. Using his left, lube-free hand, Kaien held Shinji's hips down to keep him from bucking. With his right hand, using one of the now slick fingers, Kaien traced lazy circles around Shinji's entrance. Making sure to give a particularly hard suck at the same time, Kaien pressed that digit inside the blonde.

"..uhn…Kaien…" Shinji breathed out between pants. Kaien's finger was moving in and out of him slowly. When Kaien thought Shinji was ready, he inserted two fingers this time. He hooked his middle finger as he went deep, knowing that when he did, his finger would hit Shinji in the right spot to make him moan and writhe in pleasure.

"Ahh!..mmm…," Sure enough, he found it with no problem at all. The third finger was added shortly after, still hooking that middle finger to his the blondes prostate every time, still sucking firmly on the hard cock in his mouth, Kaien knew Shinji was close.

Feeling exactly where his prostate was, Kaien left his finger there, and just rubbed and with one more deep suck, Shinji came hard, shouting Kaien's name, shooting hot cum down the other's throat. Kaien just kept his mouth at it until the spasms stopped and he could no longer feel the spurts of cum. Then he pulled out his fingers and pulled his mouth off of Shinji with a small pop.

"Oh…my…my…god…"Shinji panted, throwing an arm over his eyes.

"We're not done yet," Kaien growled. Kaien needed more, needed his own release. He sat up and reached for the bottle of lube and poured a good amount on his already slick hand.

Shinji was feeling like a puddle of mush, his release still sending racking shivers across his skin, heart still pounding as if he were still human. He had no idea what was coming next, he couldn't hear anything anymore, only the rushing of his blood and his own heart beat. He closed his eyes, wanting the moment to last forever.

When Shinji opened his eyes again, Kaien was there, mere centimeters from his face, looking at him intently.

"Shinji, I'm going to fuck you now, keep your eyes on me," Kaien told the blonde beneath him. He knew Shinji was spent, but he didn't want the poor boy to fall asleep before he was finished. Shinji nodded.

Taking that as permission to start, Kaien slipped his slick cock into the blonde's well prepared entrance. It was brilliant, he wanted to just settle there and never move, it had been too long since he'd enjoyed sex.

Keeping his eyes locked with Shinji's, Kaien slowly, agonizingly pulled out and then thrusted hard back in. Slow out, hard and fast back in. He kept up this pace for a short amount of time before he felt Shinji's cock coming to life between their bodies. Shinji's eyes were struggling to stay open, but he managed. Still maintaining eye contact, Kaien shifted his weight so he could get a hand on Shinji's now completely hard dick. He began to stroke it in time with his thrusts.

"Uhhnnnn…Kai…I'm gonna…," Shinji breathed out, arching his back, trying to get as much contact with the body above him as he could. Kaien was close too. It had been a long time so he wasn't going to last very much longer.

"It's ok Shinji, cum for me," he whispered. Feeling the body beneath him clenching and tensing, Kaien gave one last hard thrust and both vampires came together, Kaien breaking the eye contact and biting Shinji roughly on his shoulder.

"mmm," Shinji moaned as his body was racked with tremors.

Once he reached full completion, Kaien pulled his fangs out of the shoulder before him and looked at the face of the blonde he just fucked into oblivion. Shinji's eyes were half closed, his mouth slightly open panting. Kaien felt something click in his brain, but not wanting to think about it, he kissed Shinji on his forehead and then pulled out. Rolling over so both he and the blonde were on their sides, he wrapped his arms around the other vampire and almost immediately, without a thought of cleaning up, fell asleep.

Shinji's heartbeat slowed, coming to a stop as he heard the soft snores coming from the body wrapped around his. He was surprised, exhausted, and felt a small amount of shame. He was sure Kaien would kick him out the next morning. Sleep was much higher on his list of things to worry about though, so instead of dwelling, he decided to enjoy the night and slowly fell asleep. Inside his inner world, his pale counterpart purred.

* * *

The street outside the vampire family's apartment complex was quiet. Street lights flickering merrily. A tall figure stood, gazing at the building. A minute more passed, then the figure shifted into his animal form. A large tawny cat slinked into the darkness.

* * *

**A/N**

**holy fucking shit people. I am so sorry, I was on here the other day and was like, I wonder why no one's reviewed that last chapter, and sure enough, I didn't actually get it posted. Oops. So I did what anyone would do and I went through and re-read it and edited it and a 3000 word chapter turned into over 7000. There's some plot in here i guess. I must say, the scene with Shinji and Kaien caught me by surprise, but it happened. It's gonna cause some problems obviously, but I'll deal with that later. Please let me know your thoughts on it. Positive or negative, I'll take em. It means someones reading it. I hope everyone is doing well. I just got my wedding dress today. It wasn't supposed to arrive until July...I wasn't really emotionally prepared for it. My wedding's not for another 10 months so I was a little overwhelmed. In a good way. **

**As always, if you've been with me from the beginning, thanks for sticking around! If you're just joining me now, welcome! Sorry i'm a forgetful spaz!**

**Until next time,**

**~nox**


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